Genesis 16-17

New American Standard Bible 1995

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now ^(A)Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had ^(B)an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. ^(C)Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will ^[a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ After Abram had ^[b]lived ^(D)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. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “^(E)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. ^(F)May the Lord judge between ^[e]you and me.” ⁶ 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 ^(G)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now ^(H)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^(I)Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, ^(J)where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself ^[h]to her authority.” ¹⁰ Moreover, the ^(K)angel of the Lord said to her, “^(L)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,

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord 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 Abram was ^(R)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ^[s]him.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(S)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(X)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(AB)kings will come forth from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[y]descendants after you throughout their generations for an ^(AC)everlasting covenant, ^(AD)to be God to you and ^(AE)to your ^[z]descendants after you. ^8 (AF)I will give to you and to your ^[aa]descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and ^(AG)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(AH)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[ab]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (AI)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[ac]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(AJ)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(AK)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[ad]descendants. ¹³ A servant who is born in your house or ^(AL)who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(AM)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[ae]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(AN)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(AO)kings of peoples will ^[af]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(AP)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And ^(AQ)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you ^(AR)a son, and you shall call his name ^[ag]Isaac; and ^(AS)I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his ^[ah]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(AT)will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. ^(AU)He shall ^[ai]become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a ^(AV)great nation. ²¹ But My covenant I will establish with ^(AW)Isaac, whom ^(AX)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(AY)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were ^(AZ)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, ^(BA)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(BB)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And ^(BC)Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. ²⁷ All the men of his household, who were ^(BD)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.