Genesis 21

Modern

Literal

The Birth of Isaac

¹Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

¹And YHWH visited Sarah as He had said, and YHWH did for Sarah as He had spoken.

²So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

²And Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.

³And Abraham gave the name Isaac^a to the son Sarah bore to him.

³And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

⁴And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son, a son of eight days, as God had commanded him.

⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁵And Abraham was a son of a hundred years when Isaac his son was born to him.

⁶Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

⁶And Sarah said, “God has brought to me laughter; all who hear will laugh with me.”

⁷She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁷And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne a son in his old age.”

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

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

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,^a

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking her son.

¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”^a

¹⁰And she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maidservant and her son, for the son of this maidservant shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac.”

¹¹Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.

¹¹And the matter was very displeasing in the eyes of Abraham, for the cause of his son.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.^a

¹²And God said to Abraham, “Let it not be wrong in your eyes because of the boy or because of your maidservant; all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice. For in Isaac your seed will be reckoned.

¹³But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”

¹³Yet the son of the maidservant I will make into a nation, because he is your seed.”

¹⁴Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁴And Abraham rose early in the morning, and he took bread and a skin of water, and he gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and the boy; and he sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

¹⁵And the water was used up from the skin, and she cast the boy under one of the bushes.

¹⁶Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.^a

¹⁶And she went and sat down by herself opposite him, as distance of the shot of a bow, for she said, “Do not let me see the death of the boy.” And she sat opposite him and lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of the heavens and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has listened to the voice of the boy where he is there.

¹⁸Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁸Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became a great archer.

²¹And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²¹And He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.

The Covenant at Beersheba

²²At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

²²And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech spoke, and Phichol the commander of his army, to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

²³And now swear to me before God here that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in that you are sojourning.”

²⁴And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear.”

²⁵But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

²⁵And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that the servants of Abimelech had seized.

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”

²⁶And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing, and you did not tell me, and I has not heard of it until today.”

²⁷So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

²⁷And Abraham took flock and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them cut a covenant.

²⁸Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,

²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”

²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What are they—these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”

³⁰He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”

³⁰And he said, “For these seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that it may be a witness for me that I have dug this well.”

³¹So that place was called Beersheba,^a because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

³¹Upon thus, he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.

³²After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³²And they cut a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech rose, and Phichol the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.^a

³³And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of YHWH El-Olam.

³⁴And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

³⁴And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.