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The First Book of Moses: Genesis

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- Chapter 21 -

1
Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
2
So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
3
And Abraham gave the name Isaac (a) to the son Sarah bore to him.
4
When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.
5
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6
Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
7
She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8
So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

(Galatians 4:21–30)
9
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,(b)
10
and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”(c)
11
Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.
12
But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.(d)
13
But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
14
Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15
When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
16
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.(e)
17
Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.
18
Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20
And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
21
And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The Covenant at Beersheba

22
At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
23
Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”
24
And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”
25
But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
26
Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”
27
So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.
28
Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29
and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
30
He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
31
So that place was called Beersheba,(f) because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
32
After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
33
And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.(g)
34
And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Footnotes

(a)21:3 Isaac means he laughs.
(b)21:9 LXX and Vulgate; Hebrew lacks her son
(c)21:10 Cited in Galatians 4:30
(d)21:12 Cited in Romans 9:7 and Hebrews 11:18
(e)21:16 Hebrew; LXX the child lifted up his voice and wept
(f)21:31 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath.
(g)21:33 Hebrew El-Olam
1
The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken.
2
Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3
Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.(a)
4
Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5
Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.
6
Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
7
She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8
The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

(Galatians 4:21–30)
9
Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
10
Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
11
The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son.
12
God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.
13
I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”
14
Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15
The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs.
16
She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
17
God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18
Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
19
God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20
God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer.
21
He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

The Covenant at Beersheba

22
At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.
23
Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”
24
Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25
Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
26
Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”
27
Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant.
28
Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29
Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”
30
He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.”
31
Therefore he called that place Beersheba,(b) because they both swore an oath there.
32
So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
34
Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

Footnotes

(a)21:3 Isaac means “He laughs”.
(b)21:31 Beersheba can mean “well of the oath” or “well of seven”.
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