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Sarai and Hagar

16 Now (A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had (B)an Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, Yahweh has shut my womb from bearing children. (C)Please go in to my servant-woman; perhaps I will [a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. And after Abram had [b]lived (D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant-woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. Then she saw that she had conceived, so her mistress became [c]contemptible in her sight. And Sarai said to Abram, “(E)May the violence done to me be upon you. I gave my servant-woman into your [d]embrace, but she saw that she had conceived, so I became [e]contemptible in her [f]sight. (F)May Yahweh judge between [g]you and me.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant-woman is in your [h]hand; do to her what is good in your [i]sight.” So Sarai afflicted her, and (G)she fled from her presence.

Now (H)the angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to (I)Shur. And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant-woman, (J)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 Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and [j]humble yourself under her hands.” 10 Moreover, the (K)angel of Yahweh said to her, “(L)I will greatly multiply your seed so that [k]they will be too many to be counted.” 11 And the angel of Yahweh said to her further,

“Behold, you [l]are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall call his name [m]Ishmael,
Because (M)Yahweh has heard your affliction.
12 And he will be a (N)wild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will dwell [n](O)in the face of all his brothers.”

13 Then she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “[o]You are [p]a God who sees”; for she said, “(P)Have I even [q]remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14 Therefore the well was called [r]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between (Q)Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Now Abram was (R)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to [s]him.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Lit be built from her
  2. Genesis 16:3 Lit dwelt
  3. Genesis 16:4 Or cursed, cf. 12:3
  4. Genesis 16:5 Lit bosom
  5. Genesis 16:5 Or cursed, cf. 12:3
  6. Genesis 16:5 Lit eyes
  7. Genesis 16:5 Lit me and you
  8. Genesis 16:6 Or power
  9. Genesis 16:6 Lit eyes
  10. Genesis 16:9 Lit afflict, cf. 16:6
  11. Genesis 16:10 Or it shall not be counted for multitude
  12. Genesis 16:11 Or have conceived, cf. 3:16; 21:2; 25:21; Ex 2:2; 1 Sam 1:20; Luke 1:31, 36
  13. Genesis 16:11 Lit God hears
  14. Genesis 16:12 Or to the east of, in defiance of
  15. Genesis 16:13 Or You, O God, see me
  16. Genesis 16:13 Heb El roi
  17. Genesis 16:13 Lit seen here after the one who saw me
  18. Genesis 16:14 Lit the well of the living one who sees me
  19. Genesis 16:16 Lit Abram

Sarai, Hagar, and Ishmael

16 Now Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne a child for him. She had an Egyptian servant girl whose name was Hagar. So Sarai told Abram, “You are well aware that the Lord has prevented me from giving birth to a child. Go have sex with my servant, so that I may possibly bear a son[a] through her.”

Abram listened to Sarai’s suggestion, so Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian servant, Hagar, and gave her as a wife to her husband Abram. This took place[b] ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan. He had sex with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

Then Sarai told Abram, “My suffering is your fault! I gave you my servant so you could have sex with her,[c] and when she discovered that she was pregnant, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”

Abram answered Sarai, “Look, your servant is under your control, so do to her as you wish.”[d] So Sarai dealt so harshly with Hagar[e] that she ran away from Sarai.[f]

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the desert on the road to Shur. “Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he asked, “Where are you coming from and where are you going?”

She answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

The angel of the Lord told her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord also told her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, who will be too many to count.

11 “Look, you are pregnant and will give birth to a son,” the angel of the Lord continued to say to her. “You will name him Ishmael,[g] because the Lord has heard your cry of[h] misery. 12 As a man, he’ll be uncontrollable.[i] He’ll[j] be against everyone, everyone will be against him,[k]and he’ll live in conflict with[l] all of his relatives.”

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are ‘God who sees,’ because I have truly seen the one who looks after me.”

14 That’s why the spring was called, “The Well of the Living One who Looks after Me.” It was between Kadesh and Bered.

15 Hagar eventually gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Lit. possibly be built up
  2. Genesis 16:3 The Heb. lacks This took place
  3. Genesis 16:5 Lit. my servant your bosom
  4. Genesis 16:6 Lit. her what is good in your eyes
  5. Genesis 16:6 Lit. her
  6. Genesis 16:6 Lit. her
  7. Genesis 16:11 I.e. God hears
  8. Genesis 16:11 The Heb. lacks cry of
  9. Genesis 16:12 Lit. be a wild donkey; i.e., stubborn, volatile, and highly resistant to being tamed
  10. Genesis 16:12 Lit. His hand will
  11. Genesis 16:12 Lit. against his hand
  12. Genesis 16:12 Lit. in the face of

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai,(A) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.(B) But she had an Egyptian slave(C) named Hagar;(D) so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.(E) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”(F)

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan(G) ten years,(H) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar,(I) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.(J) Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”(K)

“Your slave is in your hands,(L)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated(M) Hagar; so she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord(N) found Hagar near a spring(O) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.(P) And he said, “Hagar,(Q) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”(R)

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”(S)

11 The angel of the Lord(T) also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.(U)
You shall name him(V) Ishmael,[a](W)
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.(X)
12 He will be a wild donkey(Y) of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward[b] all his brothers.(Z)

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,(AA)” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.”(AB) 14 That is why the well(AC) was called Beer Lahai Roi[d];(AD) it is still there, between Kadesh(AE) and Bered.

15 So Hagar(AF) bore Abram a son,(AG) and Abram gave the name Ishmael(AH) to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old(AI) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears.
  2. Genesis 16:12 Or live to the east / of
  3. Genesis 16:13 Or seen the back of
  4. Genesis 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.