Abraham and Abimelech

20 And Abraham journeyed from ^(A)there to the South, and dwelt between ^(B)Kadesh and Shur, and ^(C)stayed in Gerar. ² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(D)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(E)took Sarah.

³ But ^(F)God came to Abimelech ^(G)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(H)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[a]a man’s wife.”

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(I)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(J)In the ^[b]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(K)I also withheld you from sinning ^(L)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(M)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(N)know that you shall surely die, you ^(O)and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[c]offended you, ^(P)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(Q)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(R)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(S)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed ^(T)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And it came to pass, when ^(U)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(V)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech ^(W)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, ^(X)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(Y)indeed this ^[d]vindicates you ^(Z)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[e]rebuked.

¹⁷ So Abraham ^(AA)prayed to God; and God ^(AB)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord ^(AC)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Isaac Is Born^(AD)

21 And the Lord ^(AE)visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah ^(AF)as He had spoken. ² For Sarah ^(AG)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, ^(AH)at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—^(AI)Isaac.^{[f] 4} Then Abraham ^(AJ)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^(AK)as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now ^(AL)Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, ^(AM)“God has ^[g]made me laugh, and all who hear ^(AN)will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^(AO)For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(AP)

⁸ So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ^(AQ)the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(AR)scoffing.^{[h] 10} Therefore she said to Abraham, ^(AS)“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ¹¹ And the matter was very ^[i]displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^(AT)because of his son.

¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for ^(AU)in Isaac your seed shall be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make ^(AV)a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your ^[j]seed.”

¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ^[k]a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and ^(AW)sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And ^(AX)God heard the voice of the lad. Then the ^(AY)angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for ^(AZ)I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then ^(BA)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ So God ^(BB)was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, ^(BC)and became an archer. ²¹ He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother ^(BD)took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A Covenant with Abimelech

²² And it came to pass at that time that ^(BE)Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ^(BF)“God is with you in all that you do. ²³ Now therefore, ^(BG)swear^[l] to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

²⁴ And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants ^(BH)had seized. ²⁶ And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” ²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them ^(BI)made a ^[m]covenant. ²⁸ And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹ Then Abimelech asked Abraham, ^(BJ)“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰ And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that ^(BK)they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he ^(BL)called that place ^[n]Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and ^(BM)there called on the name of the Lord, ^(BN)the Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(BO)

22 Now it came to pass after these things that ^(BP)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take now your son, ^(BQ)your only son Isaac, whom you ^(BR)love, and go ^(BS)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(BT)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[o]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ^(BU)come back to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(BV)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^[p]lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ^(BW)lamb for a ^(BX)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and ^(BY)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the ^(BZ)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, ^(CA)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ^(CB)now I know that you fear God, since you have not ^(CC)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, ^[q]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: ^(CD)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will ^(CE)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ^(CF)as the stars of the heaven ^(CG)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(CH)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ^18 (CI)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ^(CJ)because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to ^(CK)Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

²⁰ Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed ^(CL)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (CM)Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father ^(CN)of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ And ^(CO)Bethuel begot ^[r]Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits^(A)

^15 (B)“Beware of false prophets, ^(C)who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^16 (D)You will know them by their fruits. ^(E)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, ^(F)every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (G)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I Never Knew You^(H)

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ^(I)‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who ^(J)does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we ^(K)not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And ^(L)then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(M)depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Build on the Rock^(N)

²⁴ “Therefore ^(O)whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that ^(P)the people were astonished at His teaching, ^29 (Q)for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Righteous Judgments

To the Chief Musician. To the tune of ^[a]“Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.