Genesis 21
1 Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
Then the Lord visited Sarah, just as he had promised; and he fulfilled what he had spoken.
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
And she conceived and gave birth to a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold to her.
3 And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sarah bore for him, Isaac.
4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.
And he circumcised him on the eighth day, just as God had instructed him,
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
when he was one hundred years old. Indeed, at this stage of his father’s life, Isaac was born.
6 Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
And Sarah said: “God has brought laughter to me. Whoever will hear of it will laugh with me.”
7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
And again, she said: “Hearing this, who would believe Abraham, that Sarah breast-fed a son, to whom she gave birth, despite being elderly?”
8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
And the boy grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
And when Sarah had seen the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with her son Isaac, she said to Abraham:
10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
“Cast out this woman servant and her son. For the son of a woman servant will not be heir with my son Isaac.”
11 Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.
Abraham took this grievously, for the sake of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.
And God said to him: “Let it not seem harsh to you concerning the boy and your woman servant. In all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be invoked in Isaac.
13 But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
Yet I will also make the son of the woman servant into a great nation, for he is your offspring.”
14 Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
And so Abraham arose in the morning, and taking bread and a skin of water, he placed it upon her shoulder, and he handed over the boy, and he released her. And when she had departed, she wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
And when the water in the skin had been consumed, she set aside the boy, under one of the trees that were there.
16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
And she moved away and sat in a distant area, as far as a bow can reach. For she said, “I shall not see the boy die.” And so, sitting opposite her, he lifted up his voice and wept.
17 Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.
But God heard the voice of the boy. And an Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, saying: “What are you doing, Hagar? Do not be afraid. For God has heeded the voice of the boy, from the place where he is.
18 Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
Rise up. Take the boy and hold him by the hand. For I will make of him a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
And God opened her eyes. And seeing a well of water, she went and filled the skin, and she gave the boy to drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
And God was with him. And he grew, and he stayed in the wilderness, and he became a young man, an archer.
21 And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
And he lived in the desert of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
At the same time, Abimelech and Phicol, the leader of his army, said to Abraham: “God is with you in everything that you do.
23 Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”
Therefore, swear by God that you will do no harm to me, and to my posterity, and to my stock. But according to the mercy that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land, to which you have turned as a newcomer.”
24 And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”
And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
And he reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.
26 Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”
And Abimelech responded, “I do not know who did this thing, but you also did not reveal it to me, nor have I heard of it, before today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.
And so Abraham took sheep and oxen, and he gave them to Abimelech. And both of them struck a pact.
28 Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,
And Abraham set aside seven female lambs from the flock.
29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
Abimelech said to him, “What purpose have these seven female lambs, which you have caused to stand separately?”
30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
But he said, “You will receive seven female lambs from my hand, so that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
For this reason, that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them did swear.
32 After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
And they initiated a pact on behalf of the well of oath.
33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
Then Abimelech and Phicol, the leader of his army, rose up, and they returned to the land of the Palestinians. In truth, Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the Lord God Eternal.
34 And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
And he was a settler in the land of the Palestinians for many days.
