Genesis 21:1-34

YAHWEH visited Sarah, just as he said he would, and fulfilled his promise to her. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the exact time God had promised them. Abraham named his son Isaac, the miracle son, whom Sarah bore him. When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would ever have told Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse children! Even though Abraham is an old man, look—I have given him a son!” Isaac grew and was weaned; and on the day Sarah weaned him, Abraham prepared a great feast. But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, was mocking her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Get rid of this slave woman and her son. Banish them, for the son of that slave woman must not become a coheir with my son Isaac!” Abraham was very upset over Sarah’s demand, for Ishmael was his son too. God spoke to Abraham, “Don’t be distressed over the slave woman and her son. Listen to every word Sarah says to you, and do it, for it will be through Isaac your promise of descendants will be fulfilled. Rest assured, I will make the son of your slave woman into a nation too, because he is your son.” Abraham rose up early the next morning, bundled up some food and a skin of water, and strapped them to Hagar’s shoulders. Then he gave her his son and sent them away. So, Hagar and her son Ishmael departed and wandered off into the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she grew desperate, so she left her son under a bush. Then she walked about the distance of a bowshot and sat down, for she thought, “I can’t bear to watch my son die.” As she sat nearby, she broke into tears and sobbed uncontrollably. And God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called out to Hagar from the heavenly realm and said, “What’s the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of your son crying as he lies there. Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes to reveal a well of water. She went over to the well and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a long, cool drink. God was with Ishmael as he grew up in the wilderness of Paran. He became an expert archer, and his mother, Hagar, arranged a marriage for him with an Egyptian woman. At that time, King Abimelech and Phicol, his army commander, came to Abraham and said, “It is obvious that God is with you and blesses everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants, but as I have shown you loyal friendship, so you will treat me—and the land in which you live as a foreigner—with loyal friendship.” “I give you my oath,” Abraham answered. But Abraham voiced a complaint about a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized by force. Abimelech responded, “This is the first time I’ve heard about this; you never told me before now. I don’t know who has done this.” So Abraham took sheep and cattle, gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Then Abraham set apart from his flock seven ewe lambs, and Abimelech asked him, “What are you doing with these seven ewe lambs you have set apart?” He replied, “I am giving them to you, and by accepting these seven ewe lambs, you acknowledge the proof that I dug this well and it belongs to me.” That place was called Beersheba, because it was there that both men swore an oath to one another. After completing their pact at Beersheba, King Abimelech and Phicol, his army commander, departed and returned to Philistine country. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he worshiped YAHWEH, the everlasting God. And Abraham lived many years in peace as a foreigner in Philistine country.