but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.

This is the story of Abraham's son Isaac.

But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.

But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year."

Abraham answered, "I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife.

Then he picked up the knife to kill him.

Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people of his house, along with all his livestock and all the possessions he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went away from his brother Jacob to another land.

He left because the land where he and Jacob were living was not able to support them; they had too much livestock and could no longer stay together.

I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven.

But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth."

Then the king told the servants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.' "

A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.

It says that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, the other by a free woman.

These things can be understood as a figure: the two women represent two covenants. The one whose children are born in slavery is Hagar, and she represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai.

But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother.

Now, you, my friends, are God's children as a result of his promise, just as Isaac was.

But what does the scripture say? It says, "Send the slave woman and her son away; for the son of the slave woman will not have a part of the father's property along with the son of the free woman."

These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us; if they had belonged to our fellowship, they would have stayed with us. But they left so that it might be clear that none of them really belonged to us.

A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.

For if God's gift depends on the Law, then it no longer depends on his promise. However, it was because of his promise that God gave that gift to Abraham.

So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children.

and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us; if they had belonged to our fellowship, they would have stayed with us. But they left so that it might be clear that none of them really belonged to us.