Genesis 21
Amplified Bible
Isaac Is Born
21 The Lord graciously remembered and visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised. 2 So Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham named his son Isaac (laughter), the son to whom Sarah gave birth. 4 So Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, just as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; all who hear [about our good news] will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have given birth to a son by him in his old age.”(A)
8 The child [Isaac] grew and was [a]weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Sarah Turns against Hagar
9 Now [as time went on] Sarah saw [Ishmael] the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, [b]mocking [Isaac].(B) 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”(C) 11 The situation [c]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son [Ishmael]. 12 God said to Abraham, “Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.(D) 13 And I will also make a nation of [Ishmael] the son of the maid, because he is your descendant.” 14 So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her [d]away. And she left [but lost her way] and wandered [aimlessly] in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was all gone, Hagar abandoned 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 see the boy die.” And as she sat down opposite him, she raised her voice and wept. 17 God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from where he is [resting]. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with Ishmael, and he grew and developed; and he lived in the wilderness and became an [expert] archer. 21 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 at that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do; 23 so now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal unfairly with me [by breaking any agreements we have] or with my son or with my descendants, but as I have treated you with kindness, you shall do the same to me and to the land in which you have sojourned (temporarily lived).” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.” 25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which the servants of Abimelech had [violently] seized [from him], 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing. Indeed, you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.”
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant (binding agreement). 28 Then Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock, 29 and Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?” 30 Abraham said, “You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me, that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba (Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba; then 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 he called on the name of the Lord [in prayer], [e]the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham lived [as a resident alien] in the land of the Philistines for [f]many days.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:8 This was probably when the child was about three years of age. Samuel served in the sanctuary from the time that he was weaned (1 Sam 1:22-28), and a Hebrew mother is quoted in 2 Maccabees 7:27 as saying to her son that she nursed him for three years.
- Genesis 21:9 Ishmael was old enough to know better than to ridicule or tease his much younger brother, and his behavior was inappropriate and thoughtless.
- Genesis 21:11 Lit was very displeasing in the eyes of Abraham.
- Genesis 21:14 Ishmael was born when Abraham was eighty-six years old (Gen 16:16), so Ishmael was about fourteen when Isaac was born, and about sixteen or seventeen years old when Isaac was weaned (Gen 21:8; 2 Chr 31:16).
- Genesis 21:33 Heb El Olam.
- Genesis 21:34 I.e. an extended period of time.
Genesis 21
English Standard Version
The Birth of Isaac
21 The Lord (A)visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah (B)as he had promised. 2 And Sarah (C)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age (D)at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, (E)Isaac.[a] 4 And Abraham (F)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, (G)as God had commanded him. 5 (H)Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, (I)“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? (J)Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
God Protects Hagar and Ishmael
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah (K)saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, (L)laughing.[b] 10 So she said to Abraham, (M)“Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for (N)through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make (O)a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of (P)Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then (Q)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. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness (R)and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Treaty with Abimelech
22 At that time (S)Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, (T)“God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but (U)as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants (V)had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men (W)made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this[c] may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore (X)that place was called Beersheba,[d] because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and (Y)called there on the name of the Lord, (Z)the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:3 Isaac means he laughs
- Genesis 21:9 Possibly laughing in mockery
- Genesis 21:30 Or you
- Genesis 21:31 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
