²⁹ Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was ^(A)Sarai,^[a] and the name of Nahor’s wife, ^(B)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰ But ^(C)Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ And Terah ^(D)took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from ^(E)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to ^(F)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.

⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(A)the ^[a]people whom they had acquired ^(B)in Haran, and they ^(C)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram ^(D)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(E)as far as ^[b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(F)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

^7 (G)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(H)“To your ^[c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(I)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(J)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ So Abram journeyed, ^(K)going on still toward the ^[d]South.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was ^(L)a famine in the land, and Abram ^(M)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was ^(N)severe in the land. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are ^(O)a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹² Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they ^(P)will kill me, but they will let you live. ^13 (Q)Please say you are my ^(R)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that ^[e]I may live because of you.”

¹⁴ So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He ^(S)treated Abram well for her sake. He ^(T)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(U)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^(A)had borne him no children. And she had ^(B)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^(C)Hagar. ^2 (D)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^(E)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^(F)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall ^[a]obtain children by her.” And Abram ^(G)heeded the voice of Sarai. ³ Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^(H)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ^(I)despised in her ^[b]eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, ^[c]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. ^(J)The Lord judge between you and me.”

^6 (K)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, ^(L)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now the ^(M)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ^(N)by the spring on the way to ^(O)Shur. ⁸ And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[a]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her ^(A)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(B)of nations; ^(C)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face ^(D)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham ^(E)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, ^(F)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(G)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(H)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(I)twelve princes, ^(J)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My ^(K)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(L)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(M)set time next year.”

¹⁸ And Abraham ^(A)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(A)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(B)took Sarah.

³ But ^(C)God came to Abimelech ^(D)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(E)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[a]a man’s wife.”

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(F)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(G)In the ^[b]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(H)I also withheld you from sinning ^(I)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(J)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(K)know that you shall surely die, you ^(L)and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[c]offended you, ^(M)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(N)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(O)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(P)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed ^(Q)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And it came to pass, when ^(R)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(S)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech ^(T)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, ^(U)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(V)indeed this ^[d]vindicates you ^(W)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[e]rebuked.

¹⁷ So Abraham ^(X)prayed to God; and God ^(Y)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord ^(Z)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Isaac Is Born^(A)

21 And the Lord ^(B)visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah ^(C)as He had spoken. ² For Sarah ^(D)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, ^(E)at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—^(F)Isaac.^{[a] 4} Then Abraham ^(G)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^(H)as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now ^(I)Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, ^(J)“God has ^[b]made me laugh, and all who hear ^(K)will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^(L)For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(M)

⁸ So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ^(N)the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(O)scoffing.^{[c] 10} Therefore she said to Abraham, ^(P)“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ¹¹ And the matter was very ^[d]displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^(Q)because of his son.

¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for ^(R)in Isaac your seed shall be called.

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² So Sarah died in ^(A)Kirjath Arba (that is, ^(B)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³ Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of ^(C)Heth, saying, ^4 (D)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. ^(E)Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵ And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord: You are ^(F)a ^[a]mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and ^[b]meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of ^(G)Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who ^(H)entered at the gate of his city, saying, ^11 (I)“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

¹² Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; ¹³ and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred ^(J)shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶ And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(K)weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

¹⁷ So ^(L)the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.