Genesis 21

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Yahweh treated Sarah as he had said, and did what he had promised her.	1 Then the Lord visited Sarah, just as he had promised; and he fulfilled what he had spoken.
2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time God had promised.	2 And she conceived and gave birth to a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold to her.
3 Abraham named the son born to him Isaac, the son to whom Sarah had given birth.	3 And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sarah bore for him, Isaac.
4 Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.	4 And he circumcised him on the eighth day, just as God had instructed him,
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.	5 when he was one hundred years old. Indeed, at this stage of his father’s life, Isaac was born.
6 Sarah said: God has given me cause to laugh! Al who hear about this wil laugh with me!	6 And Sarah said: “God has brought laughter to me. Whoever will hear of it will laugh with me.”
7 She added: Whoever would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne ason in his old age.	7 And again, she said: “Hearing this, who would believe Abraham, that Sarah breast-fed a son, to whom she gave birth, despite being elderly?”
8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned.	8 And the boy grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.
9 Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her sonIsaac.	9 And when Sarah had seen the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with her son Isaac, she said to Abraham:
10 'Drive away that slave-girl and her son,' she said to Abraham, 'this slave-girl's son is not to share theinheritance with my son Isaac.'	10 “Cast out this woman servant and her son. For the son of a woman servant will not be heir with my son Isaac.”
11 This greatly distressed Abraham, because the slave-girl's child too was his son,	11 Abraham took this grievously, for the sake of his son.
12 but God said to him, 'Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave-girl. Do whateverSarah says, for Isaac is the one through whom your name wil be carried on.	12 And God said to him: “Let it not seem harsh to you concerning the boy and your woman servant. In all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be invoked in Isaac.
13 But the slave-girl's son I shal also make into a great nation, for he too is your child.'	13 Yet I will also make the son of the woman servant into a great nation, for he is your offspring.”
14 Early next morning, Abraham took some bread and a skin of water and, giving them to Hagar, putthe child on her shoulder and sent her away. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba.	14 And so Abraham arose in the morning, and taking bread and a skin of water, he placed it upon her shoulder, and he handed over the boy, and he released her. And when she had departed, she wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the skin of water was finished she abandoned the child under a bush.	15 And when the water in the skin had been consumed, she set aside the boy, under one of the trees that were there.
16 Then she went and sat down at a distance, about a bowshot away, thinking, 'I cannot bear to see thechild die.' Sitting at a distance, she began to sob.	16 And she moved away and sat in a distant area, as far as a bow can reach. For she said, “I shall not see the boy die.” And so, sitting opposite her, he lifted up his voice and wept.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. 'What is wrong,Hagar?' he asked. 'Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy's cry in his plight.	17 But God heard the voice of the boy. And an Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, saying: “What are you doing, Hagar? Do not be afraid. For God has heeded the voice of the boy, from the place where he is.
18 Go and pick the boy up and hold him safe, for I shal make him into a great nation.'	18 Rise up. Take the boy and hold him by the hand. For I will make of him a great nation.”
19 Then God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well, so she went and fil ed the skin with water andgave the boy a drink.	19 And God opened her eyes. And seeing a well of water, she went and filled the skin, and she gave the boy to drink.
20 God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the desert, and he became an archer.	20 And God was with him. And he grew, and he stayed in the wilderness, and he became a young man, an archer.
21 He made his home in the desert of Paran, and his mother got him a wife from Egypt.	21 And he lived in the desert of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22 About then, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, 'Since God is withyou in everything you do,	22 At the same time, Abimelech and Phicol, the leader of his army, said to Abraham: “God is with you in everything that you do.
23 swear to me by God, here and now, that you wil not act treacherously towards me or my kith andkin, but behave with the same faithful love to me and the land of which you are a guest as I have behaved toyou.'	23 Therefore, swear by God that you will do no harm to me, and to my posterity, and to my stock. But according to the mercy that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land, to which you have turned as a newcomer.”
24 'Yes,' Abraham replied, 'I swear it.'	24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 Abraham then reproached Abimelech about a well that Abimelech's servants had seized.	25 And he reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.
26 'I do not know who has done this,' Abimelech said. 'You yourself have never mentioned it to me and,for myself, I heard nothing of it til today.'	26 And Abimelech responded, “I do not know who did this thing, but you also did not reveal it to me, nor have I heard of it, before today.”
27 Abraham then took sheep and cattle and presented them to Abimelech, and the two of them made acovenant.	27 And so Abraham took sheep and oxen, and he gave them to Abimelech. And both of them struck a pact.
28 Abraham put seven lambs of the flock on one side.	28 And Abraham set aside seven female lambs from the flock.
29 'Why have you put these seven lambs on one side?' Abimelech asked Abraham.	29 Abimelech said to him, “What purpose have these seven female lambs, which you have caused to stand separately?”
30 He replied, 'You must accept these seven lambs from me as evidence that I have dug this wel .'	30 But he said, “You will receive seven female lambs from my hand, so that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.”
31 This was why the place was cal ed Beersheba: because there the two of them swore an oath.	31 For this reason, that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them did swear.
32 After they had made a covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army,left and went back to Philistine territory.	32 And they initiated a pact on behalf of the well of oath.
33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk at Beersheba and there he invoked the name of Yahweh.	33 Then Abimelech and Phicol, the leader of his army, rose up, and they returned to the land of the Palestinians. In truth, Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the Lord God Eternal.
34 Abraham stayed for a long while in Philistine territory.	34 And he was a settler in the land of the Palestinians for many days.