Genesis 21:8-21

Contemporary English Version

⁸ The time came when Sarah no longer had to nurse Isaac,^[a] and on that day Abraham gave a big feast.

Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away

^9-10 (A) One day, Sarah noticed Hagar's son Ishmael^[b] playing,^[c] and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that Egyptian slave woman and her son! I don't want him to inherit anything. It should all go to my son.”^[d]

¹¹ Abraham was worried about Ishmael. ^12 (B) But God said, “Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name, ¹³ but the son of the slave woman is also your son, and I will make his descendants into a great nation.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar an animal skin full of water and some bread. Then he put the boy on her shoulder and sent them away.

They wandered around in the desert near Beersheba, ¹⁵ and after they had run out of water, Hagar put her son under a bush. ¹⁶ Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly.

¹⁷ When God heard the boy crying, the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven and said, “Hagar, why are you worried? Don't be afraid. I have heard your son crying. ¹⁸ Help him up and hold his hand, because I will make him the father of a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God let her see a well. So she went to the well and filled the skin with water, then gave some to her son.

^20-21 God blessed Ishmael, and as the boy grew older, he became an expert at hunting with his bow and arrows. He lived in the Paran Desert, and his mother chose an Egyptian woman for him to marry.