Sarai and Hagar
1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will [a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 After Abram had [b]lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your [c]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her [d]sight. May the Lord judge between [e]you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your [f]power; do to her what is good in your [g]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
7 Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself [h]to her authority.” 10 Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your [i]descendants so that [j]they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,
“Behold, you are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall call his name [k]Ishmael,
Because the Lord [l]has given heed to your affliction.
12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will [m]live [n]to the east of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “[o]You are [p]a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even [q]remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14 Therefore the well was called [r]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to [s]him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:2 Lit be built from her
- Genesis 16:3 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 16:5 Lit bosom
- Genesis 16:5 Lit eyes
- Genesis 16:5 Lit me and you
- Genesis 16:6 Lit hand
- Genesis 16:6 Lit eyes
- Genesis 16:9 Lit under her hands
- Genesis 16:10 Lit seed
- Genesis 16:10 Or it shall not be counted for multitude
- Genesis 16:11 I.e. God hears
- Genesis 16:11 Lit has heard
- Genesis 16:12 Lit dwell
- Genesis 16:12 Lit before the face of; or in defiance of
- Genesis 16:13 Or You, God, see me
- Genesis 16:13 Heb Elroi
- Genesis 16:13 Lit seen here after the one who saw me
- Genesis 16:14 I.e. the well of the living one who sees me
- Genesis 16:16 Lit Abram