Genesis 21
Legacy Standard Bible
Isaac Is Born
21 (A)Now Yahweh visited Sarah as He had said, and Yahweh 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 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, 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)one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And 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 borne him a son in his old age.”
Sarah Sends Hagar Away
8 And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw (I)the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, [c](J)laughing in jest. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “(K)Drive out this maidservant and her son! The son of this maidservant shall not be an heir with my son, with Isaac.” 11 (L)And the matter [d]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. 12 So God said to Abraham, “[e]Do not be distressed because of the boy and your maidservant; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for (M)through Isaac your seed shall be named. 13 And of (N)the son of the maidservant I will make a nation also, because he is your seed.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a [f]skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was finished, she [g]put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me [h]see when the child dies.” And she sat opposite him and (O)lifted up her voice and wept. 17 Then God (P)heard the voice of the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? (Q)Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him by [i]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 skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 (U)And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he [j]lived in the wilderness and was an archer. 21 (V)And he [k]lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Covenant with Abimelech
22 Now it happened 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 posterity, but according to the lovingkindness that I have shown you, you shall show me and the land in which you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I swear it.” 25 But Abraham reproved Abimelech about 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 [l]until today.”
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and (AA)the two of them cut a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 And 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 to me, that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place (AC)Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 So they cut a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there (AD)he called upon the name of Yahweh, the (AE)Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned (AF)in the land of the Philistines for many days.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:1 Lit spoken
- Genesis 21:6 Lit for
- Genesis 21:9 Or playing
- 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 21:14 A skin used as a bottle
- Genesis 21:15 Lit cast
- Genesis 21:16 Lit look upon the death of the child
- Genesis 21:18 Lit your
- Genesis 21:20 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 21:21 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 21:26 Lit except
Genesis 21
English Standard Version
The Birth of Isaac
21 The Lord (A)visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah (B)as he had promised. 2 And Sarah (C)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age (D)at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, (E)Isaac.[a] 4 And Abraham (F)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, (G)as God had commanded him. 5 (H)Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, (I)“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? (J)Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
God Protects Hagar and Ishmael
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah (K)saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, (L)laughing.[b] 10 So she said to Abraham, (M)“Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for (N)through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make (O)a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of (P)Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then (Q)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness (R)and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Treaty with Abimelech
22 At that time (S)Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, (T)“God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but (U)as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants (V)had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men (W)made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this[c] may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore (X)that place was called Beersheba,[d] because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and (Y)called there on the name of the Lord, (Z)the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:3 Isaac means he laughs
- Genesis 21:9 Possibly laughing in mockery
- Genesis 21:30 Or you
- Genesis 21:31 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
