¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(A)I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(A)

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 ^(B)the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(C)scoffing.^{[a] 10} Therefore she said to Abraham, ^(D)“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 ^[b]displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^(E)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 ^(F)in Isaac your seed shall be called.

¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ^[a]a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and ^(A)sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And ^(B)God heard the voice of the lad. Then the ^(C)angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for ^(D)I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then ^(E)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ So God ^(F)was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, ^(G)and became an archer. ²¹ He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother ^(H)took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The Blessed State of the Righteous

² And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Qualities of a Sound Church

2 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: ² that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, ^(A)homemakers, good, ^(B)obedient to their own husbands, ^(C)that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

⁶ Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be ^(D)a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, ^(E)incorruptibility,^{[a] 8} sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of ^[b]you.

^8 (A)This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.