Isaac Is Born

21 ^(A)Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord 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 Abraham named his son who was born to him, the son 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)a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ 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 given birth to a son in his old age.”

⁸ And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹ Now Sarah saw ^(I)the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(J)mocking Isaac. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “^(K)Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son ^[c]Isaac!” ^11 (L)The matter ^[d]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “^[e]Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for ^(M)through Isaac ^[f]your descendants shall be named. ¹³ And of ^(N)the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your ^[g]descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a ^[h]skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was used up, she ^[i]left the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not ^[j]see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and ^(O)raised her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God ^(P)heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “^[k]What is the matter with you, Hagar? ^(Q)Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by ^[l]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 ^[m]skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ And ^(U)God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ^21 (V)He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

²² Now it came about 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 descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided.” ²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But Abraham ^[n]complained to Abimelech because of 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 ^[o]until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ^(AA)the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Then 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 for me, that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place ^[p](AC)Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there ^(AD)he called on the name of the Lord, the ^(AE)Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham resided ^(AF)in the land of the Philistines for many days.

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it came about after these things, that ^(AG)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “^(AH)Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² Then He said, “Take now ^(AI)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(AJ)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(AK)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ³ So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and ^(AL)laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(AM)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will ^[q]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to ^(AN)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(AO)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(AP)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to ^[r]slaughter his son. ¹¹ But ^(AQ)the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now ^(AR)I know that you ^[s]fear God, since you have not withheld ^(AS)your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place ^[t]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord ^(AT)it will ^[u]be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “^(AU)By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(AV)multiply your ^[v]seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(AW)the sand, which is on the seashore; and ^(AX)your ^[w]seed shall possess the gate of ^[x]their enemies. ¹⁸ And ^(AY)in your ^[y]seed all the nations of the earth shall ^[z]be blessed, because you have ^(AZ)obeyed My voice.” ^19 (BA)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

²⁰ Now it came about after these things, that Abraham was told, saying, “Behold, ^(BB)Milcah ^[aa]also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel”— ²³ and it was Bethuel who fathered ^(BC)Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, ^[ab]also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Death and Burial of Sarah

23 Now ^[ac]Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² Sarah died in ^(BD)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham ^[ad]came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the ^(BE)sons of Heth, saying, ⁴ “I am ^(BF)a stranger and a foreign resident among you; ^(BG)give me ^[ae]a ^(BH)burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord: you are a ^[af](BI)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.” ⁷ So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If ^[ag]you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with ^(BJ)Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in ^[ah]your presence for ^[ai]a burial site.” ¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham ^[aj]so that the sons of Heth heard, ^(BK)that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, listen to me; ^(BL)I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.” ¹² And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. ¹³ But he spoke to Ephron ^[ak]so that the people of the land heard, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth ^[al]four hundred ^(BM)shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(BN)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the ^[am]presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.

¹⁷ So ^(BO)Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were ^[an]within all the confines of its border, ^[ao]were deeded over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession ^(BP)in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it ^[ap]were ^(BQ)deeded over to Abraham for ^[aq]a burial site by the sons of Heth.

BOOK 5

The Lord Rescues People from Many Troubles.

Four Thousand Men Fed

8 In those days, ^(A)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, ² “^(B)I feel compassion for the ^[a]people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough ^[b]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ And He *directed the ^[c]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the ^[d]people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(C)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(D)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[e]men were there; and He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of ^(E)Dalmanutha.

^11 (F)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, ^(G)demanding from Him a ^[f]sign from heaven, ^[g]to test Him. ^12 (H)Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a ^[h]sign? Truly I say to you, ^[i](I)no ^[j]sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

¹⁴ And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. ¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^(J)Watch out! Beware of the ^[k]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of ^(K)Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^(L)Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart ^[l]hardened? ^18 (M)Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, ¹⁹ when I broke ^(N)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many ^(O)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “When I broke ^(P)the seven for the four thousand, how many large ^(Q)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” ²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(R)Do you not yet understand?”

²² And they *came to ^(S)Bethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to ^[m]Jesus and *begged Him to ^(T)touch him. ²³ Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He ^(U)brought him out of the village; and after ^(V)spitting in his eyes and ^(W)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he ^[n]looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^(X)the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^27 (Y)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(Z)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ^28 (AA)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^(AB)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ^[o]Christ.” ³⁰ And ^(AC)He ^[p]warned them to tell no one about Him.

^31 (AD)And He began to teach them that ^(AE)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. ³² And He was stating the matter ^(AF)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, ^(AG)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on ^[q]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For ^(AI)whoever wants to save his ^[r]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[s]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(AJ)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^(AK)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^(AL)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”