Genesis 16

Sarai and Hagar

1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 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. 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. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. 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.” 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.

Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 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.” 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

  1. Genesis 16:2 Lit be built from her
  2. Genesis 16:3 Lit dwelt
  3. Genesis 16:5 Lit bosom
  4. Genesis 16:5 Lit eyes
  5. Genesis 16:5 Lit me and you
  6. Genesis 16:6 Lit hand
  7. Genesis 16:6 Lit eyes
  8. Genesis 16:9 Lit under her hands
  9. Genesis 16:10 Lit seed
  10. Genesis 16:10 Or it shall not be counted for multitude
  11. Genesis 16:11 I.e. God hears
  12. Genesis 16:11 Lit has heard
  13. Genesis 16:12 Lit dwell
  14. Genesis 16:12 Lit before the face of; or in defiance of
  15. Genesis 16:13 Or You, God, see me
  16. Genesis 16:13 Heb Elroi
  17. Genesis 16:13 Lit seen here after the one who saw me
  18. Genesis 16:14 I.e. the well of the living one who sees me
  19. Genesis 16:16 Lit Abram