GenesisChapter 21

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¹The LORD paid attention to Sarah, just as he had said. The LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. ²Sarah became pregnant. She had a son for Abraham in his old age. It happened at the exact time God had promised. ³Abraham named the son Sarah had for him Isaac.a ⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. He did what God had commanded him. ⁵Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." ⁷She added, "Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given him a son in his old age." ⁸The child grew and stopped nursing. On the day Isaac stopped nursing, Abraham held a big feast. ⁹But Sarah saw Hagar's son making fun of her son. Hagar was from Egypt, and she had had this son with Abraham. ¹⁰So Sarah said to Abraham, "Send away that slave woman and her son! That slave woman's son will never share what we leave to my son Isaac!" ¹¹This upset Abraham very much, because it was about his son Ishmael. ¹²But God said to Abraham, "Don't be upset about the boy and your servant woman. Listen to everything Sarah tells you. That is because your family line will be counted through Isaac. ¹³But I will also make a nation from the slave woman's son, because he is your child." ¹⁴Early in the morning Abraham got up. He took some bread and a skin bag of water. He put them on Hagar's shoulders and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵When the water in the bag was gone, she put the boy under a bush. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down nearby, about as far as an arrow can fly. She said, "I can't watch the boy die!" As she sat there, she cried out loud. ¹⁷God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. "What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy crying where he lies. ¹⁸Get up. Lift the boy up and hold him by the hand. I will do this because I will make him into a great nation." ¹⁹Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the bag with water. She gave the boy a drink. ²⁰God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became a skilled archer. ²¹He lived in the Wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ²²At that time Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army. They said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do. ²³So make a promise to me here before God. Promise that you won't cheat me or my children or my descendants. Be as kind to me and to this land where you live as I have been to you." ²⁴Abraham answered, "I promise." ²⁵But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well. Abimelech's servants had taken it by force. ²⁶Abimelech answered, "I don't know who did this. You didn't tell me. I didn't hear about it until today." ²⁷So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. And the two men made a covenant. ²⁸Abraham set apart seven female lambs from the flock. ²⁹Abimelech asked him, "Why have you set apart these seven female lambs?" ³⁰Abraham answered, "Take these seven lambs from me. They will prove that I dug this well." ³¹So that place was called Beersheba. That's because the two of them made a promise there.b ³²They made the covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up. They went back to the land of the Philistines. ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. There he called on the name of the LORD, the God who lives forever. ³⁴And Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines for a long time.