20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev 1 region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident 2 in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared 3 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 4 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 5
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 6 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 7 20:5 Did Abraham 8 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 9 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 10 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 11 That is why I have kept you 12 from sinning against me and why 13 I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 14 he is a prophet 15 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 16 But if you don’t give her back, 17 know that you will surely die 18 along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning 19 Abimelech summoned 20 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 21 they 22 were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? 23 You have done things to me that should not be done!” 24 20:10 Then Abimelech asked 25 Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” 26
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, 27 ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of 28 my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, 29 she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander 30 from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: 31 Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave 32 sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” 33
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver 34 to your ‘brother.’ 35 This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” 36
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord 37 had caused infertility to strike every woman 38 in the household of Abimelech because he took 39 Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21:1 The Lord visited 40 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 41 for Sarah what he had promised. 42 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 43 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 44 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 45 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 46 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 47
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 48 Everyone who hears about this 49 will laugh 50 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 51 “Who would 52 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 53 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 54 21:9 But Sarah noticed 55 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 56 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 57 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 58 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 59 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 60 all that Sarah is telling 61 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 62 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 63 some food 64 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 65 and sent her away. So she went wandering 66 aimlessly through the wilderness 67 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 68 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 69 away; for she thought, 70 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 71 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 72
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 73 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 74 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 75 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 76 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 77 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 78
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 79 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 80 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 81 Show me, and the land 82 where you are staying, 83 the same loyalty 84 that I have shown you.” 85
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 86 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 87 against Abimelech concerning a well 88 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 89 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 90 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 91 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 92 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 93 that I dug this well.” 94 21:31 That is why he named that place 95 Beer Sheba, 96 because the two of them swore 97 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 98 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 99 to the land of the Philistines. 100 21:33 Abraham 101 planted a tamarisk tree 102 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 103 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 104
22:1 Some time after these things God tested 105 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 106 replied. 22:2 God 107 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 108 – and go to the land of Moriah! 109 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 110 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 111 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 112 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 113 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 114 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 115 said to his servants, “You two stay 116 here with the donkey while 117 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 118 and then return to you.” 119
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 120 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 121 “My father?” “What is it, 122 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 123 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 124 for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 125 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 126 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter 127 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 128 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 129 the angel said. 130 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 131 that you fear 132 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 133 and saw 134 behind him 135 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 136 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” 137 It is said to this day, 138 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 139
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 140 decrees the Lord, 141 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 142 and I will greatly multiply 143 your descendants 144 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 145 of the strongholds 146 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 147 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 148 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 149 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 150
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 151 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 152 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 153 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.