Genesis 21:1-30 ▼

1 Now the LORD {YHWH} attended to Sarah (princess) as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

2 So Sarah (princess) conceived and bore a son to Abraham (father of many) in his old age, at the very time God {Elohim} had promised.

3 And Abraham (father of many) gave the name Isaac (he laughs) to the son Sarah (princess) bore to him.

4 When his son Isaac (he laughs) was eight days old, Abraham (father of many) circumcised him, as God {Elohim} had commanded him.

5 Abraham (father of many) was a hundred years old when his son Isaac (he laughs) was born to him.

6 Then Sarah (princess) said, “God {Elohim} has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham (father of many) that Sarah (princess) would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham (father of many) held a great feast on the day Isaac (he laughs) was weaned.

9 But Sarah (princess) saw that the son whom Hagar (flight) the Egyptian (double straits) had borne to Abraham (father of many) was mocking her son [her son],

10 and she said to Abraham (father of many), “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac !”

11 Now this matter distressed Abraham (father of many) greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.

12 But God {Elohim} said to Abraham (father of many), “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah (princess) tells you, for through Isaac (he laughs) your offspring will be reckoned .

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 (father of many) got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s (flight) shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba (well of seven).

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 [the child lifted up his voice] and wept.

17 Then God {Elohim} heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar (flight) 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 {Elohim} 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 {Elohim} 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 (place of caverns), his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt (land of bondage).

22 At that time Abimelech (my father is king) and Phicol (strong) the commander of his army said to Abraham (father of many), “God {Elohim} is with you in all that you do.

23 Now, therefore, swear to me here before God {Elohim} 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 (father of many) replied, “I swear it.”

25 But when Abraham (father of many) complained to Abimelech (my father is king) about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

26 Abimelech (my father is king) 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 (father of many) brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech (my father is king), and the two men made a covenant.

28 Abraham (father of many) separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,

29 and Abimelech (my father is king) asked him (father of many), “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.”