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.

Lead Me to the Rock

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. Of David.

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(A)not having received the things promised, but ^(B)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(C)having acknowledged that they were ^(D)strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, ^(E)they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(F)to be called their God, for ^(G)he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ By faith ^(H)Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, ^(I)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ^19 (J)He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰ By faith ^(K)Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith ^(L)Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ^(M)bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith ^(N)Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, ^(B)“Is not this Jesus, ^(C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(D)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(E)draws him. And ^(F)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ^(G)‘And they will all be ^(H)taught by God.’ ^(I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ^46 (J)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(K)he who is from God; he ^(L)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)whoever believes has eternal life. ^48 (N)I am the bread of life. ^49 (O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(P)they died. ^50 (Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(R)and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread ^(S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(T)for the life of the world is ^(U)my flesh.”