Genesis - Chapter 21

The birth of Isaac

^{1 ①} Yahweh was kind to Sarah as he had said, and fulfilled his promise to her. ²Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time Yahweh had promised. ³Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son that Sarah bore him ⁴and circumcised him when he was eight days old, as Yahweh had commanded. ⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” ⁷She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age.”

Abraham dismisses Hagar

^{8 ②} The child grew and on the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast. ⁹Sarah saw the child that Hagar, the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, mocking her son ¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Send this slave girl and her son away; the child of this slave must not share the inheritance with my son, Isaac.”

¹¹This matter distressed Abraham because it concerned his son, ¹²but God said to him, “Don’t be worried about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to Sarah and do whatever she says, because the race which is called by your name will spring from Isaac. ¹³But from the son of your servant I will also form a nation, for he too is your offspring.”

¹⁴Abraham rose early next morning and gave bread and a skin bag of water to Hagar. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She went off and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. ¹⁵When there was no more water in the skin, she pushed the boy under one of the bushes, ¹⁶and then went and sat down about a hundred yards away, for she thought, “I cannot bear to see my son die.”
But as she sat there, the child began to wail. ¹⁷God heard him and the Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy crying. ¹⁸Get up, pick the boy up and hold him safely, for I will make him into a great nation.” ¹⁹God then opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness and became an expert archer.

²¹He lived in the desert of Paran and his mother chose a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²At that time Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, to speak to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do; ²³swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my descendants, but instead you will show to me and the country where you are living the same kindness that I have shown to you.” ²⁴And Abraham said, “Yes, this I swear.”

²⁵Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁶Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this; you did not tell me and I only heard about it today.” ²⁷Abraham then took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech and the two men made a treaty. ²⁸Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs from the flock. ²⁹Abimelech said to him, “Why have you put aside these seven ewe lambs? ³⁰Abraham replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as evidence that I dug this well.” ³¹So the place was called Beersheba because the two men took an oath there. ³²After making the treaty at Beersheba, Abimelech went away with Phicol, the commander of his army, and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and there he called on Yahweh, the everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.