Genesis 21:9-17

Contemporary English Version

Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away

^9-10^(A) One day, Sarah noticed Hagar's son Ishmael^[a] playing,^[b] and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that Egyptian slave woman and her son! I don't want him to inherit anything. It should all go to my son.”^[c]

¹¹Abraham was worried about Ishmael. ¹²^(B) But God said, “Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name, ¹³but the son of the slave woman is also your son, and I will make his descendants into a great nation.”

¹⁴Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar an animal skin full of water and some bread. Then he put the boy on her shoulder and sent them away.

They wandered around in the desert near Beersheba, ¹⁵and after they had run out of water, Hagar put her son under a bush. ¹⁶Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly.

¹⁷When God heard the boy crying, the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven and said, “Hagar, why are you worried? Don't be afraid. I have heard your son crying.

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Footnotes

21.9,10 Ishmael: The son of Abraham and Hagar, who was Sarah's slave woman (see 16.1-16).
21.9,10 playing: Hebrew; one ancient translation “playing with her son Isaac.”
21.9,10 Get rid … son: When Abraham accepted Ishmael as his son, it gave Ishmael the right to inherit part of what Abraham owned. But slaves who were given their freedom lost the right to inherit such property.