Genesis 20–24

Abraham and Abimelech

20And Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur. And he dwelled as an alien in Gerar. ²And Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. ³And God came to Abimelech in a dream at night. And he said to him, “Look, you are a dead man on account of the woman you have taken. For she is a married woman.”^{a 4}Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “my Lord, will you even kill a righteous people?” ⁵Did not he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ With integrity of my heart and with cleanness of my hands I did this.” ⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes,^b I know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and I also kept you from sinning^c against me. Therefore, I did not allow you to touch her. ⁷So now, return the wife of the man, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you and you will live. And if you do not return her,^d know that you will certainly die, and all that are yours.”

⁸So Abimelech rose early in the morning. And he called all his servants and told them all these things,^e and the men were very afraid. ⁹And Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done.” ¹⁰And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you thinking^f that you did this thing?” ¹¹And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife. ¹²Besides,^g she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. ¹³And it happened that as God caused me to wander from the house of my father I said to her, ‘This is your loyal kindness that you must do for me at every place where we come: say concerning me, “He is my brother.” ’ ” ¹⁴And Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male slaves and female slaves, and he gave them to Abraham. And he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵And Abimelech said, “Here is my land before you; settle where it pleases you.”^{h 16}And to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother. It shall be an exoneration.ⁱ You are vindicated before all who are with you.”^{j 17}And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female servants so that they could bear children again. ¹⁸For Yahweh had completely closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of the matter of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

The Birth of Isaac

21And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised. ²And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. ³And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵And Abraham was one hundred years old^a when Isaac his son was born to him. ⁶And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me.” ⁷And she said, “Who would announce to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son to Abraham in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael

⁸And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. ⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰Then she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac.” ¹¹And the matter displeased Abraham very much^b on account of his son. ¹²Then God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased^c on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. Listen to everything that Sarah said to you,^d for through Isaac your offspring will be named. ¹³And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring.” ¹⁴Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba. ¹⁵And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶And she went and she sat opposite him, at a distance, a bowshot away,^e for she said, “Let me not see the child’s death.” So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷And God heard the cry^f of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, “What is the matter^g Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry^h of the boy from where he is.^{i 18}Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” ¹⁹And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy. ²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became an expert with a bow.^{j 21}And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The Covenant Between Abraham and Abimelech

²²And it happened that at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you, in all that you do. ²³So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall pledge to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien.” ²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear.” ²⁵Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized. ²⁶And Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard of it except for today.” ²⁷And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them made^k a covenant. ²⁸Then Abraham set off seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe-lambs that you have set off by themselves?” ³⁰And he said, “You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand as proof on my behalf^l that I dug this well.” ³¹Therefore that place is called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. ³²And they made^m a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech, and Phicol his army commander stood and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³And heⁿ planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting God.^{o 34}And Abraham dwelled as an alien in the land of the Philistines many days.

God Tests Abraham

22And it happened that after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²And he said, “Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where^a I will tell you.” ³And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance. ⁵And Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you.” ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷And Isaac said to Abraham his father, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸And Abraham said, “God will provide^b the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went together.

⁹And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹²And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are one who fears^c God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me.” ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh will provide,”^d for which reason^e it is said today, “on the mountain of Yahweh it shall be provided.”^{f 15}And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven. ¹⁶And he said, “I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, ¹⁷that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice.” ¹⁹And Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

²⁰And it happened that after these things, it was told to Abraham, “Look, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, ²²and Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³(Now, Bethuel fathered Rebekah). These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, the brother of Abraham. ²⁴And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham,…