The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to (A)Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, (B)“I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,[a]
    (C)because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be (D)a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell (E)over against all his kinsmen.”

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[b] for she said, (F)“Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[c] 14 Therefore the well was called (G)Beer-lahai-roi;[d] it lies between (H)Kadesh and Bered.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
  2. Genesis 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
  3. Genesis 16:13 Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?
  4. Genesis 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me

17 Then Abraham (A)fell on his face (B)and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but (C)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name (D)Isaac.[a] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and (E)multiply him greatly. He (F)shall father twelve princes, and (G)I will make him into a great nation. 21 But (H)I will establish my covenant with Isaac, (I)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 17:19 Isaac means he laughs

God Protects Hagar and Ishmael

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah (A)saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, (B)laughing.[a] 10 So she said to Abraham, (C)“Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for (D)through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make (E)a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of (F)Beersheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then (G)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness (H)and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 21:9 Possibly laughing in mockery

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