Sarai and Hagar

16 (A)Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was (B)Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[a] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram (C)had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, (D)she looked with contempt on her mistress.[b] And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May (E)the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to (F)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, (G)“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,[c]
    (H)because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be (I)a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell (J)over against all his kinsmen.”

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

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
  2. Genesis 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5
  3. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
  4. Genesis 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
  5. 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?
  6. Genesis 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife Sarai had never had any children by him. But she had a female slave from Egypt named Hagar. So she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go and sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai had said. His wife Sarai gave him her slave Hagar to be his wife. That was after he had been living in Canaan for ten years. Then he slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.

When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on the woman who owned her. Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s your fault that I’m suffering like this. I put my slave in your arms. Now that she knows she’s pregnant, she looks down on me. May the Lord judge between you and me. May he decide which of us is right.”

“Your slave belongs to you,” Abram said. “Do with her what you think is best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar badly. So Hagar ran away from her.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was beside the road to Shur. The angel said, “Hagar, you are Sarai’s slave. Where have you come from? Where are you going?”

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

Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to the woman who owns you. Obey her.” 10 The angel continued, “I will give you and your family many children. There will be more of them than anyone can count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her,

“You are now pregnant
    and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
    because the Lord has heard about your suffering.
12 He will be like a wild donkey.
    He will use his power against everyone,
    and everyone will be against him.
    He will not get along with any of his family.”

13 She gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She called him “You are the God who sees me.” That’s because she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That’s why the well was named Beer Lahai Roi. It’s still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar had a son by Abram and Abram gave him the name Ishmael.

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夏甲与以实玛利

16 亚伯兰的妻子撒莱没有生育,她有个婢女名叫夏甲,是埃及人。 撒莱对亚伯兰说:“耶和华不让我生育,请你与我的婢女同房,也许我可以借着她生子立后。”亚伯兰同意了撒莱的话。 于是,撒莱把埃及婢女夏甲给亚伯兰做妾。那时亚伯兰已经在迦南住了十年。 亚伯兰与夏甲同房,她就怀了孕。夏甲知道自己怀了孕,就轻视女主人撒莱。 撒莱对亚伯兰说:“我受气都是因为你。我把婢女放在你怀里,她仗着自己怀了孕就轻视我,愿耶和华在你我之间主持公道。” 亚伯兰对撒莱说:“婢女在你手中,随你处置。”于是,撒莱苦待夏甲,夏甲就逃走了。

耶和华的天使在旷野中通往书珥之路的水泉旁找到了夏甲, 便问她:“撒莱的婢女夏甲,你从哪里来?要到哪里去?”她回答说:“我是从女主人撒莱那里逃出来的。” 耶和华的天使对她说:“你要回到女主人那里顺服她。” 10 又说:“我必使你的后代多得不可胜数。” 11 接着又说:“你现在怀了孕,将来会生一个男孩,你要给他取名叫以实玛利[a],因为耶和华已经听见你痛苦的哀声。 12 这孩子性情必像野驴,他要跟人作对,人也要跟他作对。他必与他所有的弟兄为敌。” 13 夏甲称对她说话的耶和华为“看顾人的上帝”,她说:“我竟然在这里看见了看顾我的上帝。” 14 因此,她称加低斯和巴列之间的那口井为庇耳·拉海·莱[b]

15 后来夏甲为亚伯兰生了一个儿子,亚伯兰给他取名叫以实玛利。

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Footnotes

  1. 16:11 以实玛利”意思是“上帝听见了”。
  2. 16:14 庇耳·拉海·莱”意思是“看顾我的永恒上帝之井”。