Genesis 21

21 ¹Now our Father visited Sarah, just as he had said, and did for her what he had promised. ²Sarah conceived, bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time our Father had promised him. ³Abraham named the son Sarah had borne him Isaac. ⁴Abraham circumcised his son Isaac at eight days old, as our Father had commanded him. ⁵Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶Sarah said, "our Father made me laugh; everyone who hears will laugh with me." ^a a v6 Isaac means 'he laughs' in Hebrew — Sarah's laughter at the impossible promise becomes his very name. ⁷She added, "Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I've borne him a son in his old age."

The Feast for Isaac

⁸The child grew and was weaned; the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a great feast. ⁹But Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, and he was mocking. ¹⁰She said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave woman and her son; this slave woman's son will never inherit with my son Isaac."

¹¹This troubled Abraham deeply, because it concerned his son.

¹²But our Father said to Abraham, "Don't be upset about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to Sarah in all she tells you, for your offspring will be named through Isaac. ¹³I will also make the slave woman's son a nation, since he is your offspring."

¹⁴Early next morning Abraham took bread and a skin of water, gave them to Hagar, put them on her shoulder along with the child, and sent her away. She left and wandered the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵When the water in the waterskin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶She went and sat down about a bowshot away, for she said, "I can't watch the boy die." Then she sat there, lifted her voice, and wept.

¹⁷Our Father heard the boy's voice; his messenger called to Hagar from heaven: "What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid—our Father has heard the boy's voice where he lies. ¹⁸Get up, lift the boy and take him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation."

¹⁹Then our Father opened her eyes; she saw a well of water, went and filled the waterskin, then gave the boy a drink.

²⁰Our Father was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

Abimelech's Oath

²²At that time, Abimelech and Phicol, commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all you do. ²³Now swear to me here by God that you won't betray me, my children, or my descendants. Show me and this land where you've lived as a foreigner the same kindness I've shown you."

²⁴Abraham said, "I swear it." ²⁵Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. ²⁶Abimelech replied, "I don't know who did this. You didn't tell me, and I only heard of it today."

²⁷Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two made a covenant. ²⁸Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹and Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart?"

³⁰He replied, "Accept these seven ewe lambs from me as proof that I dug this well." ³¹So that place was called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. ^b b v31 Beersheba carries the double meaning of "well of seven" and "well of the oath" — both senses fit this scene where Abraham swore an oath beside the well. ³²So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, his army commander, returned to Philistine land. ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of our Father, El Olam—our everlasting Father. ^c c v33 El Olam means 'the Everlasting God.' Abraham gave our Father this name at Beersheba — the everlasting one whose covenant promises hold across every generation. ³⁴And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.