I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’ ”
Early the next morning, Abraham cut the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on his donkey, and set out for the distant place God had shown him. He took with him two of his servants, and his son Isaac.
Joshua set up the memorial stones that they had taken from the exact spot where the priests stood bearing the ark in the riverbed. They remain there to this day.
Abraham rose up early the next morning, bundled up some food and a skin of water, and strapped them to Hagar’s shoulders. Then he gave her his son and sent them away. So, Hagar and her son Ishmael departed and wandered off into the wilderness of Beersheba.