Genesis 21-24

New American Standard Bible 1995

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 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 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.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made 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, ^[c](J)mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “^(K)Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son ^[d]Isaac.” ^11 (L)The matter ^[e]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “^[f]Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for ^(M)through Isaac ^[g]your descendants shall be named. ¹³ And of ^(N)the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your ^[h]descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a ^[i]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 ^[j]left the boy 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 ^[k]see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and ^(O)lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God ^(P)heard the lad 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 lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad, 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 lad a drink.

^20 (U)God was with the lad, and he grew; and he ^[n]lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ^21 (V)He ^[o]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 now therefore, ^(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 kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.” ²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But Abraham ^[p]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 ^[q]until today.”

²⁷ Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ^(AA)the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ 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 took an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose 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 sojourned ^(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 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 rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose 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 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(AL)laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(AM)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will ^[r]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 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay 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 stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing 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 a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place ^[t]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount 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 (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 arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

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

Death and Burial of Sarah

23 Now ^[ad]Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven 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 ^[ae]went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the ^(BE)sons of Heth, saying, ⁴ “I am ^(BF)a stranger and a sojourner among you; ^(BG)give me ^[af]a ^(BH)burial site among you 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 ^[ag](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 rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your ^[ah]wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach ^(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 ^[ai]your presence for ^[aj]a burial site.” ¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even ^(BK)of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear 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 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth 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 ^[ak]hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, ^[al]commercial standard.

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

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now ^(BR)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had ^(BS)blessed Abraham in every way. ² Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had ^(BT)charge of all that he owned, “^(BU)Please place your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, ^(BV)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(BW)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(BX)the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴ but you will go to ^(BY)my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” ⁶ Then Abraham said to him, “^(BZ)Beware that you do not take my son back there! ^7 (CA)The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘^(CB)To your ^[aq]descendants I will give this land,’ He will send ^(CC)His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will ^(CD)be free from this my oath; ^(CE)only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant ^(CF)placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of ^(CG)good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to ^[ar]Mesopotamia, to ^(CH)the city of Nahor. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^(CI)the well of water at evening time, ^(CJ)the time when women go out to draw water. ¹² He said, “^(CK)O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please ^[as](CL)grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, ^(CM)I am standing by the ^[at]spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and ^[au]who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

^15 (CN)Before he had finished speaking, behold, ^(CO)Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(CP)Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The girl was ^(CQ)very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had ^[av]had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “^(CR)Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” ^18 (CS)She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^(CT)she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ^21 (CU)Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her ^[aw]in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^(CV)gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her ^[ax]wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴ She said to him, “^(CW)I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.” ²⁶ Then the man ^(CX)bowed low and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “^(CY)Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(CZ)His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^(DA)the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then ^(DB)the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(DC)Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s ^[ay]wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “^[az]This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And he said, “^(DD)Come in, ^(DE)blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since ^(DF)I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?” ³² So the man entered the house. Then ^[ba](DG)Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business.” And he said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am ^(DH)Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly ^(DI)blessed my master, so that he has become ^[bb]rich; and He has given him ^(DJ)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now ^(DK)Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master ^[bc]in her old age, and ^(DL)he has given him all that he has. ^37 (DM)My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I ^[bd]live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ^39 (DN)I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘^(DO)The Lord, before whom I have ^(DP)walked, will send ^(DQ)His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ^41 (DR)then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴² “So ^(DS)I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ^(DT)successful; ⁴³ behold, ^(DU)I am standing by the ^[be]spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “^(DV)Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished ^(DW)speaking in my heart, behold, ^(DX)Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and ^(DY)I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘^(DZ)Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. ^47 (EA)Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ^(EB)ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her ^[bf]wrists. ⁴⁸ And I ^(EC)bowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, ^(ED)who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s ^[bg]kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to ^[bh](EE)deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “^(EF)The matter comes from the Lord; ^(EG)so we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he ^(EH)bowed himself to the ground ^[bi]before the Lord. ⁵³ The servant brought out ^(EI)articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “^(EJ)Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “^(EK)Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.” ⁵⁶ He said to them, “Do not delay me, since ^(EL)the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the girl and ^[bj]consult her wishes.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^(EM)her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

⁶² Now Isaac had come from going to ^(EP)Beer-lahai-roi; for he ^[bl]was living in ^(EQ)the ^[bm]Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out ^(ER)to ^[bn]meditate in the field toward evening; and ^(ES)he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her ^[bo]veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ^(ET)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^(EU)he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after ^(EV)his mother’s death.