21Genesis 21

The Birth of Isaac

1The Lord blessed Sarah, as he had promised,Select Genesis 21:1

2and she became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham when he was old. The boy was born at the time God had said he would be born.Select Genesis 21:2

3Abraham named him Isaac,Select Genesis 21:3

4and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.Select Genesis 21:4

5Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born.Select Genesis 21:5

6Sarah said, “God has brought me joy and laughter. Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”Select Genesis 21:6

7Then she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”Select Genesis 21:7

8The child grew, and on the day that he was weaned, Abraham gave a great feast.Select Genesis 21:8

Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away

9One day Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, was playing with Sarah's son Isaac.Select Genesis 21:9

10Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, “Send this slave and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit.”Select Genesis 21:10

11This troubled Abraham very much, because Ishmael also was his son.Select Genesis 21:11

12But God said to Abraham, “Don't be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised.Select Genesis 21:12

13I will also give many children to the son of the slave woman, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son.”Select Genesis 21:13

14Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar some food and a leather bag full of water. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She left and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.Select Genesis 21:14

15When the water was all gone, she left the child under a bushSelect Genesis 21:15

16and sat down about a hundred yards away. She said to herself, “I can't bear to see my child die.” While she was sitting there, she began to cry.Select Genesis 21:16

17God heard the boy crying, and from heaven the angel of God spoke to Hagar, “What are you troubled about, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy crying.Select Genesis 21:17

18Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants.”Select Genesis 21:18

19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went and filled the leather bag with water and gave some to the boy.Select Genesis 21:19

20God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skillful hunter.Select Genesis 21:20

21His mother got an Egyptian wife for him.Select Genesis 21:21

The Agreement between Abraham and Abimelech

22At that time Abimelech went with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.Select Genesis 21:22

23So make a vow here in the presence of God that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so promise that you will also be loyal to me and to this country in which you are living.”Select Genesis 21:23

24Abraham said, “I promise.”Select Genesis 21:24

25Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well which the servants of Abimelech had seized.Select Genesis 21:25

26Abimelech said, “I don't know who did this. You didn't tell me about it, and this is the first I have heard of it.”Select Genesis 21:26

27Then Abraham gave some sheep and cattle to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement.Select Genesis 21:27

28Abraham separated seven lambs from his flock,Select Genesis 21:28

29and Abimelech asked him, “Why did you do that?”Select Genesis 21:29

30Abraham answered, “Accept these seven lambs. By doing this, you admit that I am the one who dug this well.”Select Genesis 21:30

31And so the place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them made a vow.Select Genesis 21:31

32After they had made this agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol went back to Philistia.Select Genesis 21:32

33Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped the Lord, the Everlasting God.Select Genesis 21:33

34Abraham lived in Philistia for a long time.Select Genesis 21:34