Genesis 21 (New American Standard)

Isaac Is Born

1 ¹Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had ^apromised. 2 ²So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at ³the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, ⁴Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was ⁵eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was ⁶one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, "God has made ⁷laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh ^bwith me." 7 And she said, "⁸Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children ? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." 8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

9 Now Sarah saw ⁹the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^c10mocking. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "¹¹Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son ^dIsaac." 11 ¹²The matter ^edistressed Abraham greatly because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, "^fDo not be distressed because of the lad and your maid ; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for ¹³through Isaac ^gyour descendants shall be named. 13 "And of ¹⁴the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your ^hdescendant." 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a ⁱskin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was used up, she ^jleft the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Do not let me ^ksee the boy die." And she sat opposite him, and ¹⁵lifted up her voice and wept. 17 God ¹⁶heard the lad crying ; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar ? ¹⁷Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by ^lthe hand, ¹⁸for I will make a great nation of him." 19 Then God ¹⁹opened her eyes and she saw ²⁰a well of water ; and she went and filled the ^mskin with water and gave the lad a drink. 20 ²¹God was with the lad, and he grew ; and he ⁿlived in the wilderness and became an archer . 21 ²²He ^olived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

22 Now it came about at that time that ²³Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "²⁴God is with you in all that you do ; 23 now therefore, ²⁵swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned." 24 Abraham said, "I swear it." 25 But Abraham ^pcomplained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech ²⁶had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing ; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it ^quntil today." 27 Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ²⁷the two of them made a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves ?" 30 He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a ²⁸witness to me, that I dug this well." 31 Therefore he called that place ²⁹Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba ; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there ³⁰he called on the name of the LORD, the ³¹Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned ³²in the land of the Philistines for many days.