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) 2} 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. ³ 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. ⁴ He slept with Hagar,^(I) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.^{(J) 5} 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)

⁶ “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.

⁷ 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) 8} 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.

⁹ 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:

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.

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^(A) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^{(B) 16} I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^(C) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^(D) kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown;^(E) he laughed^(F) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^(G) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^{(H) 18} And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^(I) might live under your blessing!”^(J)

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^(K) and you will call him Isaac.^[a](L) I will establish my covenant with him^(M) as an everlasting covenant^(N) for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^(O) He will be the father of twelve rulers,^(P) and I will make him into a great nation.^{(Q) 21} But my covenant^(R) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(S) by this time next year.”^{(T) 22} When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^(U)

²³ On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^(V) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^{(W) 24} Abraham was ninety-nine years old^(X) when he was circumcised,^{(Y) 25} and his son Ishmael^(Z) was thirteen; ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ²⁷ And every male in Abraham’s household^(AA), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸ The child grew and was weaned,^(A) and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham^(B) was mocking,^{(C) 10} and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman^(D) and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”^(E)

¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.^{(F) 12} But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[a] will be reckoned.^{(G) 13} I will make the son of the slave into a nation^(H) also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar.^(I) He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.^(J)

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she^[b] began to sob.^(K)

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying,^(L) and the angel of God^(M) called to Hagar from heaven^(N) and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid;^(O) God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.^(P)”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes^(Q) and she saw a well of water.^(R) So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy^(S) as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹ While he was living in the Desert of Paran,^(T) his mother got a wife for him^(U) from Egypt.