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21
Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac
1 God was good to Sarah, and he kept his promise to her, 2 and a baby started to grow inside her. Then that baby boy was born at the time that God said he would be born. Abraham was an old man, but Sarah had a baby boy, and Abraham was his father.* Hebrews 11:11 3 Abraham called him Isaac. That name means laugh.
4 And when Isaac was 8 days old, Abraham did the young man operation on him, just like God told him to do, to show that Isaac belonged to God.* Genesis 17:12; Acts 7:8
5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. 6 Sarah said, “God is giving me something to laugh about now, and everyone that hears this story will be happy with me, and they will laugh too.” 7 She also said, “Nobody reckoned that I can ever have a kid. But look, Abraham is old now, but I had a baby boy, and Abraham is his father.”
Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away from his camp
8 When Isaac was about 3 years old, he stopped drinking Sarah’s milk, and Abraham gave him a big party. 9 Then Sarah saw Ishmael laughing at Isaac. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar. Hagar was Sarah’s worker, and she was from Egypt country. 10 Then Sarah said to Abraham, “When you die, my son Isaac has to get all your things. I don’t want Ishmael to get anything, he is just the son of a worker woman. So you have to tell that woman and her son to get out of our camp. Send them right away from here.”* Galatians 4:29-30
11 Abraham was really upset by what Sarah said. Ishmael was his son, so Abraham reckoned it was wrong to send him away. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t worry about Ishmael or his mother. You see, the family that I promised you will come from Isaac, not from Ishmael. So listen to Sarah, and do what she says.* Romans 9:7; Hebrews 11:18 13 Don’t worry, I will give Ishmael a big family too. Later on, his family will grow into a big nation. I will do that for him, because he is your son too.”
14 So early the next morning, Abraham got some food, and a leather water bag. He put them on Hagar’s shoulder, and he sent her and Ishmael out of his camp. They walked around in the desert country near Beersheba. 15 They kept going until there was no water left in the water bag. Then they stopped, and Hagar left Ishmael in the shade of a little tree. 16 And then she went and sat by herself a little way from him, because she thought, “I don’t want to watch him die.” And she started to cry out loud.
17 Ishmael was crying too, and God heard him, and he sent an angel messenger from heaven to talk to Hagar. The angel said, “Why are you upset? Don’t worry. God has heard Ishmael crying, under that tree. 18 Go and take care of him. Listen, I will give him a big family, and they will become a great nation.” 19 Then God showed her a water-hole. So she got up and filled her water bag, and she gave Ishmael a drink.
20-21 God kept Ishmael safe as he grew up in the desert called Paran. He learned how to use a bow and arrows properly, so he became a good hunter. And later on, Hagar got a wife for him from Egypt country.
Abraham and Abimelek made strong promises to each other
22-23 One day, Abimelek went to talk to Abraham. Abimelek was the big boss of the country where Abraham lived. And Ficol, the leader of Abimelek’s army, went with him. Abimelek said to Abraham, “You know, you are not one of my people. You came from another place to live here in my country. But I have been good to you, and to all your people. So I want you to promise me that you will never try to trick me, or my kids, or anyone that is born into my family. I want you to promise that you will be good to them. We know that God is very good to you, and he helps you with everything you do. So I want you to make that promise to me while God is listening. I want you to tell God to punish you if you break that promise.”* Genesis 26:26
24 So Abraham made that promise to Abimelek. He said those words in the way that Abimelek wanted.
25 But then Abraham also complained to Abimelek. He said, “I’ve got a problem. Some of your workers took one of my water-holes, and then they stopped my workers from getting any water there.”
26 Abimelek said, “I’m sorry, Abraham. I don’t know who did that. I never heard about it, and you didn’t tell me about it until now.”
27 At that time, Abraham gave Abimelek some of his sheep, and goats, and cows, and the 2 men made strong promises to each other. 28 Then Abraham also picked out 7 young female sheep from his animals, and he put them to one side. 29 Abimelek asked him, “Why did you put these 7 sheep to one side? What do you mean by that?”
30 Abraham said, “I want to give you these sheep as a special present. Take them. That’s how you can show people that you agree with me, that I dug that water-hole and that I own it.”
31 From that time on, that place was called Beersheba. That name means water-hole where they made a promise. It was where Abraham and Abimelek made strong promises to each other.
32 After they made those promises, Abimelek and Ficol went back to their home, in Philistia country. 33 Then Abraham showed respect to God there in Beersheba. He called God by his special name Yahweh, and he planted a special tree to remember that place. Yahweh is the true God that lives for ever.
34 Abraham and all his people lived for a long time in the country that belonged to the Philistia mob.

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*21:2 Hebrews 11:11

*21:4 Genesis 17:12; Acts 7:8

*21:10 Galatians 4:29-30

*21:12 Romans 9:7; Hebrews 11:18

*21:22-23 Genesis 26:26

© 2019 The Plain English Project