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Then Yahweh blessed Sarah just as he had said {he would}. Yes, he did for her exactly what he had promised {to do}. 2 So Sarah became pregnant and at the time {God had} appointed, she gave birth to a son for Abraham when he was old, just as God had promised him {that she would}. 3 Then Abraham named his son Isaac, the son whom Sarah had given birth to. 4 Also, when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, just as God had commanded him {to do}.5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. 6 {When he was born,} Sarah exclaimed, "God has made me laugh {for joy}, {and} everyone who hears {about this} will laugh {for joy} with me!" 7 She also exclaimed, "No one would have {even thought of} telling Abraham that I would have children. Yet I have given birth to a son {for him} when he is old!"
8 Isaac grew as a child and reached the age when his mother stopped nursing him. When that happened, Abraham held a big feast {to celebrate}. 9 But {during the feast} Sarah noticed that {Ishmael,} the son of {her} Egyptian {handmaid} Hagar and Abraham, was making fun of {Isaac}. 10 So she {was angry and} told Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son! Her son must never get anything that my son Isaac will inherit {from you}!" 11 Abraham was very upset about that, because {Ishmael} was {also} his son {and he cared about him too}. 12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be upset about the boy or your slave woman. {Rather} listen to everything Sarah tells you {to do}, {and do it,} because Isaac is the one who will be the ancestor of your descendants {whom I promised to you}. 13 But I will also make your slave woman's son become {the ancestor of} a {great} people group, because he is your son."
14 Early the next morning Abraham got up, brought {some} food and a container of water to Hagar {and} put them on her back. Then he sent her off with the boy, and they left and wandered around in the desert near {the city of} Beersheba. 15 When they had finished {all} the water in the container, she left her son under {the shade of} a bush. 16 She thought {to herself}, "I cannot {bear to} watch my son die." So she went {away from him} and sat down by herself, about as far away as someone can shoot an arrow. Then she started crying loudly.
17 God {also} heard the boy crying, so one of his angels called to Hagar from heaven and said, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying over there {and will take care of him}. 18 {So} go help the boy get up and take care of him, because I {Yahweh} will make him become {the ancestor of} a great people group." 19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water, so she went {to the well}, filled her {water} container with water and gave her son a drink.
20 As the boy grew up, God was with him {and helped him}. He lived in the {Paran} Desert and became a {skilled} bowhunter. 21 While he was there, his mother found a wife for him {who was} from the country of Egypt.
22 Meanwhile, one day {King} Abimelech {went} with his army captain Phicol {to Abraham} and said to him, "{I have noticed that} God is with you {and helps you} in everything that you do. 23 So now {please} vow to me here in God's presence that you will never deceive me or my children or my descendants, {but that} just as I have treated you kindly, you {also} will be kind to me and {my people in} this country where you are living." 24 Abraham replied {to him}, "I vow {that I will do those things}."
25 Then Abraham complained to {King} Abimelech about a water well that Abimelech's servants had taken control of {from his servants}. 26 But Abimelech responded, "I do not know who did that. Besides that, you did not tell me {about it} {before} and so today is the first that I have heard about it." 27 Then Abraham gave {some of his} sheep and cattle to Abimelech, and he and Abimelech made a {peace} treaty {with one another}. 28 Abraham {also} separated seven female lambs from the flock by themselves. 29 So Abimelech asked him, "Why did you separate those seven lambs {from the rest of the flock}?" 30 Abraham replied, "Because I want you to accept them from me, to show {everyone} that you agree with me that I dug this well {and it belongs to me}." 31 {Abimelech accepted the lambs,} so Abraham named that place Beersheba {which means "Well of the Seven" or "Well of the Vow"}, because that's where the two of them vowed {to live at peace with one another}.
32 After Abraham and {King} Abimelech made their treaty at Beersheba, Abimelech and his army captain Phicol left {from there} and returned {home} to {the capital city of} the Philistine territory {that he ruled as king}. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped Yahweh by name, {who is} the God who lives forever. 34 After that, Abraham lived {there} in the land of the Philistines for many years.