Genesis 16
Living Bible
16 But Sarai and Abram had no children. So Sarai took her maid, an Egyptian girl named Hagar, 2-3 and gave her to Abram to be his second wife.
“Since the Lord has given me no children,” Sarai said, “you may sleep with my servant girl, and her children shall be mine.”
And Abram agreed. (This took place ten years after Abram had first arrived in the land of Canaan.) 4 So he slept with Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized she was pregnant, she became very proud and arrogant toward her mistress Sarai.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s all your fault. For now this servant girl of mine despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of being your wife. May the Lord judge you for doing this to me!”[a]
6 “You have my permission to punish the girl as you see fit,” Abram replied. So Sarai beat her and she ran away.
7 The Angel of the Lord found her beside a desert spring along the road to Shur.
8 The Angel: “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
Hagar: “I am running away from my mistress.”
9-12 The Angel: “Return to your mistress and act as you should, for I will make you into a great nation. Yes, you are pregnant and your baby will be a son, and you are to name him Ishmael (‘God hears’), because God has heard your woes. This son of yours will be a wild one—free and untamed as a wild ass! He will be against everyone, and everyone will feel the same toward him. But he will live near the rest of his kin.”
13 Thereafter[b] Hagar spoke of Jehovah—for it was he who appeared to her—as “the God who looked upon me,” for she thought, “I saw God and lived to tell it.”
14 Later that well was named “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” It lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 (Abram was eighty-six years old at this time.)
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:5 May the Lord judge you for doing this to me, literally, “Let the Lord judge between me and you.”
- Genesis 16:13 Thereafter, implied.
Genesis 16
World English Bible
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May Yahweh judge between me and you.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.
7 Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.”
9 Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” 10 Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” 11 Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposed to all of his brothers.”
13 She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.[a] Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Footnotes
- 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means “well of the one who lives and sees me”.
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