Genesis 21:1-34
Isaac Is Born
The Lord was gracious to Sarah, just as he had said he would be. The Lord did for Sarah what he had promised to do. Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. The child was born at the exact time God had promised. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. He did it exactly as God had commanded him. Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Sarah said, “God has given laughter to me. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would breast-feed children? But I’ve had a son by him when he is old.”
Abraham Sends Hagar and Ishmael Away
Isaac grew. The time came for his mother to stop breast-feeding him. On that day Abraham prepared a big celebration. But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. Ishmael was the son Hagar had by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian slave. Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman! Get rid of her son! That woman’s son will never have a share of the family’s property. All of it belongs to my son Isaac.”
What Sarah said upset Abraham very much. After all, Ishmael was his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be so upset about the boy and your slave Hagar. Listen to what Sarah tells you, because your family line will continue through Isaac. I will also make the son of your slave into a nation. I will do it because he is your child.”
Early the next morning Abraham got some food and a bottle of water. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He gave the food and water to Hagar, placing them on her shoulders. Then he sent her away with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
When the water in the bottle was gone, she put the boy under a bush. Then she sat down about as far away as a person can shoot an arrow. She thought, “I can’t stand to watch the boy die.” As she sat there, she began to sob.
God heard the boy crying. Then the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven. He said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift up the boy and take him by the hand. I will make him into a great nation.”
Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and learned to shoot a bow and arrow. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
The Agreement at Beersheba
At that time Abimelek and his army commander, Phicol, spoke to Abraham. They said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. Now make a promise to me here while God is watching. Give me your word that you will treat me fairly. Promise that you will treat my children and their children the same way. I’ve been kind to you. Now you be kind to me and the country where you are living as an outsider.”
Abraham said, “I give you my word that I’ll do it.”
Then Abraham complained to Abimelek that his servants had taken over a well of water. But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You didn’t tell me. And today is the first time I heard about it.”
So Abraham gave Abimelek sheep and cattle. The two men came to an agreement. Then Abraham picked out seven female lambs from his flock. Abimelek asked Abraham, “What’s the meaning of these seven female lambs? Why have you picked them out and set them apart?”
Abraham replied, “Accept the seven lambs from me. They will be a witness that I dug this well.”
So that place was named Beersheba. That’s because there the two men came to an agreement.
After the agreement had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek went back to the land of the Philistines. His army commander, Phicol, went with him. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. There he called on the name of the Lord, the God who lives forever. Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Genesis 22:1-24
God Tests Abraham
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” Abraham replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son. He is the one you love. Take Isaac. Go to the place called Moriah. Give your son to me there as a burnt offering. Sacrifice him on the mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took two of his servants and his son Isaac with him. He cut enough wood for the burnt offering. Then he started out for the place God had shown him. On the third day Abraham saw the place a long way off. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship. Then we’ll come back to you.”
Abraham had his son Isaac carry the wood for the burnt offering. He himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said. “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.
They reached the place God had shown Abraham. There Abraham built an altar. He arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac. Abraham placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand. He picked up the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven. He said, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” Abraham replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not harm him. Now I know that you would do anything for God. You have not held back from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked around. There in a bush he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram. He sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. To this day people say, “It will be provided on the mountain of the Lord.”
The angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven a second time. He said, “I am giving you my word that I will bless you. I will bless you because of what you have done,” announces the Lord. “You have not held back your son, your only son. So I will certainly bless you. I will make the children born into your family as many as the stars in the sky. I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will take over the cities of their enemies. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. All these things will happen because you have obeyed me.”
Then Abraham returned to his servants. They started out together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor’s Sons
Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah has become a mother. She has had sons by your brother Nahor.
Uz was born first. Then came his brother Buz.
Kemuel was born next. He became the father of Aram.
Milkah’s other sons are Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.”
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.
Milkah had the eight sons by Abraham’s brother Nahor.
Nahor had a concubine named Reumah. She also had sons.
They were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Genesis 23:1-20
Sarah Dies
Sarah lived to be 127 years old. She died at Kiriath Arba. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the land of Canaan. Sarah’s death made Abraham very sad. He went to the place where her body was lying. There he wept over her.
Then Abraham got up from beside his wife’s body. He said to the Hittites, “I’m an outsider. I’m a stranger among you. Sell me some property where I can bury those in my family who die. Then I can bury my wife.”
The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your wife in the best place we have to bury our dead. None of us will refuse to sell you a place to bury her.”
Then Abraham bowed down in front of the Hittites, the people of the land. He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, then listen to me. Speak to Zohar’s son Ephron for me. Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah. It belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price. I want it as a place to bury my dead wife among you.”
Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham. All of the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city heard him. “No, sir,” Ephron said. “Listen to me. I will give you the field. I’ll also give you the cave that’s in the field. I will give it to you in front of my people. Bury your wife.”
Again Abraham bowed down in front of the people of the land. He spoke to Ephron so they could hear him. He said, “Please listen to me. I’ll pay the price of the field. Accept it from me. Then I can bury my wife there.”
Ephron answered Abraham, “Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. But what’s that between the two of us? Bury your wife.”
Abraham agreed to Ephron’s offer. He weighed out for Ephron the price he had named. The Hittites there had heard the amount. The price was ten pounds of silver. Abraham measured it by the weights that were used by merchants.
So Ephron sold his field to Abraham. The field was in Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it. He also bought all the trees that were inside the borders of the field. Everything was sold to Abraham as his property. He bought it in front of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah. He buried her in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Mamre is at Hebron. So the field and the cave that was in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites. The property became a place to bury those who died in his family.
