Genesis 21

The Birth of Isaac

1And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2#Heb 11.11. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4#Gen 17.12; Acts 7.8. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have borne him a son in his old age.

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

8And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. 10#Gal 4.29,30. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12#Rom 9.7; Heb 11.18. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer–sheba.

15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and 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.

The Covenant between Abraham and Abimelech

22 # Gen 26.26. And it came to pass at that time, that Abim´elech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23now therefore swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. 24And Abraham said, I will swear.

25And Abraham reproved Abim´elech because of a well of water, which Abim´elech's servants had violently taken away. 26And Abim´elech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but today. 27And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abim´elech; and both of them made a covenant. 28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29And Abim´elech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31Wherefore he called that place Beer–sheba;#21.31 That is, The well of the oath. because there they sware both of them. 32Thus they made a covenant at Beer–sheba: then Abim´elech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33And Abraham planted a grove in Beer–sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. 34And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

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Genesis 21

A Baby for Sarah

1The Lord cared for Sarah as he had said. He did for her what he had promised. 2Sarah became pregnant. And she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. Everything happened at the time God had said it would. 3Abraham named his son Isaac. Sarah gave birth to this son of Abraham. 4Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded.

5Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. 6And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh.# The Hebrew words for “he laughed” and “Isaac” sound the same. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. 7No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham’s child. But I have given Abraham a son while he is old.”

Hagar and Ishmael

8Isaac grew and became old enough to eat food. At that time Abraham gave a great feast. 9But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave.) 10So Sarah said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son. When we die, our son Isaac will inherit everything we have. I don’t want her son to inherit any of our things.”

11This troubled Abraham very much because Ishmael was also his son. 12But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac. 13I will also make the descendants of Ishmael into a great nation. I will do this because he is your son, too.”

14Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a leather bag full of water. He gave them to Hagar and sent her away. Hagar carried these things and her son. She went and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

15Later, all the water was gone from the bag. So Hagar put her son under a bush. 16Then she went away a short distance and sat down. Hagar thought, “My son will die. I cannot watch this happen.” She sat there and began to cry.

17God heard the boy crying. And God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, “What is wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there. 18Help the boy up. Take him by the hand. I will make his descendants into a great nation.”

19Then God showed Hagar a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water. Then she gave the boy a drink.

20God was with the boy as he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert. He learned to shoot with a bow very well. 21He lived in the Desert of Paran. His mother found a wife for him in Egypt.

Abraham’s Bargain with Abimelech

22Then Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of Abimelech’s army. They said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23So make a promise to me here before God. Promise that you will be fair with me and my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger. Be as kind to me as I have been to you.”

24And Abraham said, “I promise.” 25Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about Abimelech’s servants. They had captured a well of water.

26But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me about this before today.”

27Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle. And they made an agreement. 28Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.

29Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?”

30Abraham answered, “Accept these lambs from me. That will prove that you believe I dug this well.”

31So that place was called Beersheba# This name means “well of the promise” or “well of seven.” because they made a promise to each other there.

32So Abraham and Abimelech made an agreement at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.

33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba. There Abraham prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever. 34And Abraham lived as a stranger in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

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