Genesis 21–22

The Birth of Isaac

21The Lord ^kvisited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah ^las he had promised. ²And Sarah ^mconceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age ⁿat the time of which God had spoken to him. ³Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, ^oIsaac.^{1 4}And Abraham ^pcircumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^qas God had commanded him. ^5rAbraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶And Sarah said, ^s“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” ⁷And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^tYet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

God Protects Hagar and Ishmael

⁸And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹But Sarah ^usaw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^vlaughing.^{2 10}So she said to Abraham, ^w“Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” ¹¹And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. ¹²But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for ^xthrough Isaac shall your offspring be named. ¹³And I will make ^ya nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” ¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of ^zBeersheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” ¹⁹Then ^aGod opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness ^band became an expert with the bow. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A Treaty with Abimelech

²²At that time ^cAbimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, ^d“God is with you in all that you do. ²³Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but ^eas I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” ²⁴And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants ^fhad seized, ²⁶Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” ²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men ^gmade a covenant. ²⁸Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. ²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” ³⁰He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this³ may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” ³¹Therefore ^hthat place was called Beersheba,⁴ because there both of them swore an oath. ³²So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and ⁱcalled there on the name of the Lord, ^jthe Everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22After these things ^kGod tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to ^lthe land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy¹ will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^mlaid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸Abraham said, ⁿ“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^olaid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹²He said, ^p“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^qnow I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called the name of that place, ^r“The Lord will provide”;² as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”³

¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, ^s“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^tas the stars of heaven and ^uas the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^vthe gate of his⁴ enemies, ¹⁸and ^win your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^xbecause you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to ^yBeersheba. And Abraham lived at ^yBeersheba.

²⁰Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, ^zMilcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21aUz his firstborn, ^bBuz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³(^cBethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.