Genesis 21

A Baby for Sarah

1 The Lord cared for Sarah as he had said and did for her what he had promised.2 Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. Everything happened at the time God had said it would.3 Abraham named his son Isaac, the son Sarah gave birth to.

4 He circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded.
5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 

7 No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham’s child, but even though Abraham is old I have given him a son.”

Hagar and Ishmael Leave

8 Isaac grew, and when he became old enough to eat food, Abraham gave a great feast.9 But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave.)

10 So Sarah said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son. Her son should not inherit anything; my son Isaac should receive it all.”
11 This troubled Abraham very much because Ishmael was also his son.12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.

13 I will also make the descendants of Ishmael into a great nation because he is your son, too.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a leather bag full of water. He gave them to Hagar and sent her away. Carrying these things and her son, Hagar went and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 Later, when all the water was gone from the bag, Hagar put her son under a bush.

16 Then she went away a short distance and sat down. She thought, “My son will die, and I cannot watch this happen.” She sat there and began to cry.
17 God heard the boy crying, and God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, “What is wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there.

18 Help him up and take him by the hand. I will make his descendants into a great nation.”

19 Then God showed Hagar a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert and became an archer.

21 He lived in the Desert of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.

Abraham’s Bargain with Abimelech

22 Then Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.

23 So make a promise to me here before God that you will be fair with me and my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger—as kind as I have been to you.”
24 And Abraham said, “I promise.”

25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about Abimelech’s servants who had seized a well of water.

26 But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me about this before today.”
27 Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and they made an agreement.

28 Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.

29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?”

30 Abraham answered, “Accept these lambs from me to prove that you believe I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba 

32 After Abraham and Abimelech made the agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever.34 And Abraham lived as a stranger in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Genesis 22

God Tests Abraham

1 After these things God tested Abraham’s faith. God said to him, “Abraham!”
And he answered, “Here I am.”

2 Then God said, “Take your only son, Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Kill him there and offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. After he cut the wood for the sacrifice, they went to the place God had told them to go.4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and gave it to his son to carry, but he himself took the knife and the fire. So he and his son went on together.

7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!”
Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.”
Isaac said, “We have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb we will burn as a sacrifice?”

8 Abraham answered, “God will give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.”
So Abraham and his son went on together9 and came to the place God had told him about. Abraham built an altar there. He laid the wood on it and then tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar.

10 Then Abraham took his knife and was about to kill his son.

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “Yes.”

12 The angel said, “Don’t kill your son or hurt him in any way. Now I can see that you trust God and that you have not kept your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a male sheep caught in a bush by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep and killed it. He offered it as a whole burnt offering to God, and his son was saved.

14 So Abraham named that place The Lord Provides. Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time16 and said, “The Lord says, ‘Because you did not keep back your son, your only son, from me, I make you this promise by my own name:17 I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, and they will capture the cities of their enemies.

18 Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed me.’ ”

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants. They all traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham stayed there.
20 After these things happened, someone told Abraham: “Your brother Nahor and his wife Milcah have children now.21 The first son is Uz, and the second is Buz. The third son is Kemuel (the father of Aram).22 Then there are Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah was the mother of these eight sons, and Nahor, Abraham’s brother, was the father.24 Also Nahor had four other sons by his slave woman Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 23

Sarah Dies

1 Sarah lived to be one hundred twenty-seven years old.2 She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad and cried because of her.3 After a while he got up from the side of his wife’s body and went to talk to the Hittites. He said,

4 “I am only a stranger and a foreigner here. Sell me some of your land so that I can bury my dead wife.”
5 The Hittites answered Abraham,

6 “Sir, you are a great leader among us. You may have the best place we have to bury your dead. You may have any of our burying places that you want, and none of us will stop you from burying your dead wife.”
7 Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites.8 He said to them, “If you truly want to help me bury my dead wife here, speak to Ephron, the son of Zohar for me.

9 Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah at the edge of his field. I will pay him the full price. You can be the witnesses that I am buying it as a burial place.”
10 Ephron was sitting among the Hittites at the city gate. He answered Abraham,

11 “No, sir. I will give you the land and the cave that is in it, with these people as witnesses. Bury your dead wife.”
12 Then Abraham bowed down before the Hittites.

13 He said to Ephron before all the people, “Please let me pay you the full price for the field. Accept my money, and I will bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham,

15 “Sir, the land is worth ten pounds of silver, but I won’t argue with you over the price. Take the land, and bury your dead wife.”

16 Abraham agreed and paid Ephron in front of the Hittite witnesses. He weighed out the full price, ten pounds of silver, and they counted the weight as the traders normally did.
17-18 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold. Abraham became the owner of the field, the cave in it, and all the trees that were in the field. The sale was made at the city gate, with the Hittites as witnesses.19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. (Mamre was later called Hebron in the land of Canaan.)20 So Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites to use as a burying place.