Genesis 21
21
1And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as he had spoken. 2And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God#GodHebrew: Elohim had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God#GodHebrew: Elohim had commanded him. 5And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6And Sarah said, God#GodHebrew: Elohim has made me laugh: all that hear will laugh with me. 7And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle children? For I have borne him a son in his old age. 8And the child grew, and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10And she said to Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son — with Isaac. 11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy handmaid: in all that Sarah hath said to thee hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee. 13But also the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a flask of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder — and the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15And the water was exhausted from the flask; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs, 16and she went and sat down over against him, a bow-shot off; for she said, Let me not behold the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice and wept. 17And God#GodHebrew: Elohim heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God#GodHebrew: Elohim called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God#GodHebrew: Elohim hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is. 18Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation. 19And God#GodHebrew: Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God#GodHebrew: Elohim was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
22And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and Phichol the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God#GodHebrew: Elohim is with thee in all that thou doest. 23And now swear to me here by God#GodHebrew: Elohim that thou wilt not deal deceitfully with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson. According to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou sojournest. 24And Abraham said, I will swear. 25And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. 26And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this, neither hast thou told me of it, neither have I heard of it but to-day. 27And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. 28And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. 29And Abimelech said to Abraham, What mean these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves? 30And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well. 31Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they had sworn, both of them. 32And they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines.
33And Abraham planted a tamarisk in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal ·God#GodHebrew: El 34And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 21
21
The Birth of Isaac
1The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3And Abraham named their son Isaac. 4Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
6And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter.#21:6 The name Isaac means “he laughs.” All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away
8When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. 9But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac.#21:9 As in Greek version and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks of her son, Isaac. 10So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”
11This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. 12But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. 13But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.”
14So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. 16Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards#21:16 Hebrew a bowshot. away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.
17But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”
19Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.
20And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, 21and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.
Abraham’s Covenant with Abimelech
22About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said. 23“Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.”
24Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!” 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had taken by force from Abraham’s servants.
26“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Abimelech answered. “I have no idea who is responsible. You have never complained about this before.”
27Abraham then gave some of his sheep, goats, and cattle to Abimelech, and they made a treaty. 28But Abraham also took seven additional female lambs and set them off by themselves. 29Abimelech asked, “Why have you set these seven apart from the others?”
30Abraham replied, “Please accept these seven lambs to show your agreement that I dug this well.” 31Then he named the place Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”), because that was where they had sworn the oath.
32After making their covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech left with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned home to the land of the Philistines. 33Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God.#21:33 Hebrew El-Olam. 34And Abraham lived as a foreigner in Philistine country for a long time.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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