Genesis 21
21
1And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.
2And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.
3And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.
4And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him.
5When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father was Isaac born.
6And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me. Whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.
7And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age?
8And the child grew and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.
9And when Sara had seen the son of Agar the Egyptian playing with Isaac her son, she said to Abraham:
10Cast out this bondwoman, and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
11Abraham took this grievously for his son.
12And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bondwoman. In all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation: because he is thy seed.
14So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.
15And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.
16And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off as far as a bow can carry. For she said: I will not see the boy die. And sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17And God heard the voice of the boy. And an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? Fear not: for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.
18Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand: for I will make him a great nation.
19And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.
20And GOD was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.
21And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan: and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
22At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol, the general of his army, said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.
23Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.
24And Abraham said: I will swear.
25And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.
26And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing; and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till to-day.
27And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.
28And Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.
29And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set apart?
30But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe lambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.
31Therefore that place was called Bersabee: because there both of them did swear.
32And they made a league for the well of oath.
33And Abimelech, and Phicol, the general of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.
34And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.
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Genesis 21: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 21
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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