Genesis 21

Isaac is Born

21And the Lord ^avisited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah ^bas He had spoken. ²For Sarah ^cconceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, ^dat the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—^eIsaac. ¹⁴Then Abraham ^fcircumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^gas God had commanded him. ⁵Now ^hAbraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶And Sarah said, ⁱ“God has ²made me laugh, and all who hear ^jwill laugh with me.” ⁷She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^kFor I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart

⁸So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ^lthe Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^mscoffing. ³¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, ⁿ“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ¹¹And the matter was very ⁴displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^obecause of his son.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for ^pin Isaac your seed shall be called. ¹³Yet I will also make ^qa nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your ⁵seed.”

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ⁶a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and ^rsent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷And ^sGod heard the voice of the lad. Then the ^tangel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for ^uI will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹Then ^vGod opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰So God ^wwas with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, ^xand became an archer. ²¹He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother ^ytook a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A Covenant with Abimelech

²²And it came to pass at that time that ^zAbimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ^a“God is with you in all that you do. ²³Now therefore, ^bswear ⁷to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants ^chad seized. ²⁶And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” ²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them ^dmade a ⁸covenant. ²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹Then Abimelech asked Abraham, ^e“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that ^fthey may be my witness that I have dug this well.” ³¹Therefore he ^gcalled that place ⁹Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³²Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and ^hthere called on the name of the Lord, ⁱthe Everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.