Genesis 21
New American Standard Bible
Isaac Is Born
21 (A)Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had [a]promised. 2 (B)So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at (C)the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him, the son whom Sarah bore to him, (D)Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was (E)eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was (F)a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made (G)laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh [b]with me.” 7 And she said, “(H)Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”
8 And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Sarah Turns against Hagar
9 Now Sarah saw (I)the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, (J)mocking Isaac. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “(K)Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son [c]Isaac!” 11 (L)The matter [d]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael. 12 But God said to Abraham, “[e]Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for (M)through Isaac [f]your descendants shall be named. 13 And of (N)the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your [g]descendant.” 14 So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a [h]skin 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 [i]left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not [j]see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and (O)raised her voice and wept. 17 God (P)heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “[k]What is the matter with you, Hagar? (Q)Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by [l]the hand, (R)for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then God (S)opened her eyes, and she saw (T)a well of water; and she went and filled the [m]skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 And (U)God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 (V)He lived 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 (W)Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “(X)God is with you in all that you do; 23 so now, (Y)swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided.” 24 Abraham said, “I swear it.” 25 But Abraham [n]complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech (Z)had 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 [o]until today.”
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and (AA)the two of them made a covenant. 28 But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Then 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 (AB)witness for me, that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place [p](AC)Beersheba, 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, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there (AD)he called on the name of the Lord, the (AE)Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham resided (AF)in the land of the Philistines for many days.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:1 Lit spoken
- Genesis 21:6 Lit for
- Genesis 21:10 Lit with Isaac
- Genesis 21:11 Lit was very grievous in Abraham’s sight
- Genesis 21:12 Lit Do not let it be grievous in your sight
- Genesis 21:12 Lit your seed will be called
- Genesis 21:13 Lit seed
- Genesis 21:14 I.e., a skin used as a bottle
- Genesis 21:15 Lit cast
- Genesis 21:16 Lit look at the death of the child
- Genesis 21:17 Lit What to you; an idiom
- Genesis 21:18 Lit your
- Genesis 21:19 See note v 14
- Genesis 21:25 Lit rebuked
- Genesis 21:26 Lit except
- Genesis 21:31 I.e., well of an oath
Genesis 21
King James Version
21 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
Genesis 21
Living Bible
21 1-2 Then God did as he had promised, and Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a baby son in his old age, at the time God had said; 3 and Abraham named him Isaac (meaning “Laughter!”). 4-5 Eight days after he was born, Abraham circumcised him, as God required. (Abraham was 100 years old at that time.)
6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear about this shall rejoice with me. 7 For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a child in his old age!”
8 Time went by and the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham gave a party to celebrate the happy occasion. 9 But when Sarah noticed Ishmael—the son of Abraham and the Egyptian girl Hagar—teasing[a] Isaac, 10 she turned upon Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave girl and her son. He is not going to share your property with my son. I won’t have it.”
11 This upset Abraham very much, for after all, Ishmael too was his son.
12 But God told Abraham, “Don’t be upset over the boy or your slave-girl wife; do as Sarah says, for Isaac is the son through whom my promise will be fulfilled. 13 And I will make a nation of the descendants of the slave girl’s son, too, because he also is yours.”
14 So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food for the journey, and strapped a canteen of water to Hagar’s shoulders and sent her away with their son. She walked out into the wilderness of Beersheba, wandering aimlessly.
15 When the water was gone she left the youth in the shade of a bush 16 and went off and sat down a hundred yards or so away. “I don’t want to watch him die,” she said, and burst into tears, sobbing wildly.
17 Then God heard the boy crying, and the Angel of God called to Hagar from the sky, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Don’t be afraid! For God has heard the lad’s cries as he is lying there. 18 Go and get him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well; so she refilled the canteen and gave the lad a drink. 20-21 And God blessed the boy and he grew up in the wilderness of Paran, and became an expert archer. And his mother arranged a marriage for him with a girl from Egypt.
22 About this time King Abimelech and Phicol, commander of his troops, came to Abraham and said to him, “It is evident that God helps you in everything you do; 23 swear to me by God’s name that you won’t defraud me or my son or my grandson, but that you will be on friendly terms with my country, as I have been toward you.”
24 Abraham replied, “All right, I swear to it!” 25 Then Abraham complained to the king about a well the king’s servants had taken violently away from Abraham’s servants.
26 “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” the king exclaimed, “and I have no idea who is responsible. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
27 Then Abraham gave sheep and oxen to the king, as sacrifices to seal their pact.
28-29 But when he took seven ewe lambs and set them off by themselves, the king inquired, “Why are you doing that?”
30 And Abraham replied, “They are my gift to you as a public confirmation that this well is mine.”
31 So from that time on the well was called Beer-sheba (“Well of the Oath”), because that was the place where they made their covenant. 32 Then King Abimelech and Phicol, commander of his army, returned home again. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree beside the well and prayed there to the Lord, calling upon the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham lived in the Philistine country for a long time.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:9 teasing, or “mocking,” whether in innocent fun or otherwise is not clear in the text.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.