Genesis 21
1 Yahweh was very kind to Sarah, just as he said he would be. He did for Sarah exactly what he promised to do.
And the Lord came to Sarah as he had said and did to her as he had undertaken.
2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham when he was very old, at the time God promised it would happen.
And Sarah became with child, and gave Abraham a son when he was old, at the time named by God.
3 Abraham gave the name ‘Isaac’ (which means ‘he laughs’) to the son Sarah gave birth to.
And Abraham gave to his son, to whom Sarah had given birth, the name Isaac.
4 Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when his son was eight days old, just as God commanded him to do.
And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham made him undergo circumcision, as God had said to him.
5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born.
Now Abraham was a hundred years old when the birth of Isaac took place.
6 And Sarah said, “[Although I was sad before because I did not have any children], God has now enabled me to laugh, and everyone who hears about what God has done for me will laugh with me.”
And Sarah said, God has given me cause for laughing, and everyone who has news of it will be laughing with me.
7 Then she also said, “No one would have said to Abraham that some day Sarah would nurse a child, but I have given birth to a son when Abraham is very old.”
And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would have a child at her breast? for see, I have given him a son now when he is old.
8 The baby grew and was weaned [when he was about three years old]. On that day, Abraham prepared a large feast to celebrate.
And when the child was old enough to be taken from the breast, Abraham made a great feast.
9 ([One day/During the feast)] Sarah noticed that Hagar’s son Ishmael was (making fun of/playing with) Isaac.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with Isaac.
10 So she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman from Egypt and her son! I do not want the son of that slave woman to be alone (OR, to be an heir along with) my son, Isaac!”
So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with my son Isaac.
11 Abraham was very distressed about the matter, because he was concerned about his son [Ishmael].
And this was a great grief to Abraham because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about your son, Ishmael, and about your maidservant, Hagar. Do everything that Sarah tells you to do. Listen to her, because Isaac is the one who will be considered the ancestor of the descendants I promised to give you.
But God said, Let it not be a grief to you because of the boy and Hagar his mother; give ear to whatever Sarah says to you, because it is from Isaac that your seed will take its name.
13 But I will also cause the son of your maidservant to be the ancestor of the people of a great nation [MTY], because he is also your son.”
And I will make a nation of the son of your servant-woman, because he is your seed.
14 So Abraham got up early the next morning. He got some food ready, put water in a container, and gave them to Hagar. He put them [in a bag] on her shoulder and sent them away. They wandered in the desert near Beersheba [town].
And early in the morning Abraham got up, and gave Hagar some bread and a water-skin, and put the boy on her back, and sent her away: and she went, wandering in the waste land of Beer-sheba.
15 After they had drunk all the water in the container, she put her son under one of the bushes there.
And when all the water in the skin was used up, she put the child down under a tree.
16 Then she went and sat nearby, about (as far as someone can shoot an arrow/100 meters away), because she thought, “I cannot endure seeing my son die!” As she sat there, she began to cry [loudly] [MTY].
And she went some distance away, about an arrow flight, and seating herself on the earth, she gave way to bitter weeping, saying, Let me not see the death of my child.
17 [The boy was crying too.] And God heard the boy crying. So he caused one of his angels to call out from heaven to Hagar, saying, “Hagar, are you worried about something? Do not be afraid, because God has heard the boy crying there.
And the boy's cry came to the ears of God; and the angel of God said to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, why are you weeping? have no fear, for the child's cry has come to the ears of God.
18 Help your son up, and hold his hand as you leave, because I will cause his descendants to become a great nation.”
Come, take your child in your arms, for I will make of him a great nation.
19 Then God showed her a well of water. So she went to the well and filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
Then God made her eyes open, and she saw a water-spring, and she got water in the skin and gave the boy a drink.
20 God helped the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became a good (archer/man who hunts with bow and arrows).
And God was with the boy, and he became tall and strong, and he became a bowman, living in the waste land.
21 He lived in Paran Desert. While e was there, Hagar got a wife for him from Egypt.
And while he was in the waste land of Paran, his mother got him a wife from the land of Egypt.
22 At that time, [King] Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “It is clear that God helps you with everything that you do.
Now at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, said to Abraham, I see that God is with you in all you do.
23 So now (solemnly promise/swear) to me here, as God is listening, that you will (not deceive/act fairly to) me and my children and my descendants, in return for my being kind to you. Be kind to me and to all the people here in the country where you are now living.”
Now, then, give me your oath, in the name of God, that you will not be false to me or to my sons after me, but that as I have been good to you, so you will be to me and to this land where you have been living.
24 So Abraham promised to do that.
And Abraham said, I will give you my oath.
25 [Then] Abraham complained to Abimelech about one of Abraham’s wells that Abimelech’s servants had seized.
But Abraham made a protest to Abimelech because of a water-hole which Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
26 But Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done that. You did not tell me previously, and I did not hear about it until today.”
But Abimelech said, I have no idea who has done this thing; you never gave me word of it, and I had no knowledge of it till this day.
27 So Abraham brought some sheep and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a (treaty/peace agreement).
And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement together.
28 Abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock.
And Abraham put seven young lambs of the flock on one side by themselves.
29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What are these seven female lambs that you have separated from the rest of your flock?”
Then Abimelech said, What are these seven lambs which you have put on one side?
30 Abraham replied, “I want you truly to accept these female lambs from me [SYN], so that it may be a (public witness/proof) that this well belongs to me because I dug it.”
And he said, Take these seven lambs from me as a witness that I have made this water-hole.
31 So Abimelech accepted the animals, and as a result they called that place Beersheba, [which means ‘Friendship Agreement Well’, ] because there the two of them made that agreement.
So he gave that place the name Beer-sheba, because there the two of them had given their oaths.
32 After they made the agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and his army commander, Phicol, left, and returned to the land of the Philistine people-group.
So they made an agreement at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.
33 Abraham planted a (tamarisk tree/kind of tree called esel) there, and he worshiped the eternal God there.
And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
34 Abraham lived in the land of the Philistine people-group for a long time.
And Abraham went on living in the land of the Philistines as in a strange country.
