Genesis 21

₁The Lord was good to Sarah and He did what He had promised her. ₂Abraham was very old, but Sarah became pregnant and she had a son at the time when God had said she would have a baby. ₃Abraham named his son Isaac. ₄When Isaac was 8 days old, Abraham circumcised him as God had told him to do.

₅Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. ₆Then Sarah said: ‘God was good to me, and He has made me laugh. And now everyone will laugh with me. ₇No one thought that Abraham and I would have a baby, because we are too old. But now I have given a son to Abraham.’

₈Isaac grew older and later he stopped drinking milk from his mother. On that day Abraham gave a big feast.

₉One day Sarah saw Ishmael laughing at Isaac and mocking him. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the woman from Egypt. ₁₀Then Sarah said to Abraham: ‘Send this slave woman and her son away. When you die, Ishmael must not get anything. Isaac must inherit everything that you have.’

₁₁Abraham thought that it would be wrong to do this to his son ₁₂but God said to him: ‘Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and her son. Do what Sarah has asked you. The descendants of Isaac will be your descendants. ₁₃But the son of the slave woman is also your son and I will make his descendants a big nation.’

₁₄Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar bread and water in a skin-bag. He put it on her shoulder and sent her away with her son.

She went away and walked for a long time into the desert near Beersheba. She did not know where she was going ₁₅and later they had no more water and Hagar put her son down under a bush. ₁₆She went further on and sat down, because she did not want to see her son die, and she started to cry.

₁₇God heard the boy crying. The Angel_of_the_Lord talked to Hagar from heaven. He said: ‘Hagar, why are you worried? Don't be afraid. I have heard your son crying. ₁₈Pick up your son and hold his hand. I will make him the father of a big nation.’

₁₉Then God opened her eyes and she saw a fountain. She went to the fountain and filled her skin-bag with water, then she gave her son water to drink.

₂₀God was with Ishmael. When he grew up he lived in the desert and learned to shoot with a bow_and_arrow. ₂₁He lived in the desert of Paran and his mother chose a woman from the land of Egypt to be his wife.

₂₂King Abimelek and the chief of his army, Phicol, said to Abraham: ‘God is with you, and He helps you in everything that you do. ₂₃I want you to promise me, and God must be your Witness, that you will always be good to me and my descendants. I have been good to you in this land where you have stayed and where you were a stranger.’

₂₄Abraham promised him that he would be good to him.

₂₅A few days later Abraham said to King Abimelek: ‘Some of your slaves have taken one of my water-wells. They say it is their water-well.’

₂₆King Abimelek said to Abraham: ‘I do not know who did this. You did not tell me about it. This is the first time that I have heard of it.’

₂₇Abraham gave King Abimelek some sheep and cattle, then the 2 men made an agreement.

₂₈Abraham took 7 ewe lambs from his sheep ₂₉and King Abimelek asked him: ‘Why did you do that?’

₃₀And Abraham said: ‘I will give these 7 lambs to you. You must take them. This will show that you know that this is my water-well. I made the hole in the ground to get this water.’

₃₁Then they named the place Beersheba, because they made an agreement there.

₃₂After they had made the agreement, King Abimelek and the chief of his army, Phicol, went back to the land of the Philistines.

₃₃Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and he worshipped the Lord, the God who lives forever. ₃₄Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time. He was a stranger there.