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Genesis 16
New Catholic Bible
Genesis 16
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 16
Abram’s Son Ishmael.[a] 1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Behold, the Lord has kept me from having children; sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have children through her.”
Abram did what Sarai had told him to do. 3 Thus, ten years after Abram had begun to live in the land of Canaan, Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.
But once she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer treated her mistress with respect. 5 Therefore, Sarai said to Abram, “May this affront fall upon you! I gave you my maid to embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she stopped treating me with respect. Let the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your slave is in your hands. Do with her as you see fit.” Sarai then maltreated her so much that Hagar ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord[b] found her near a spring in the desert. The spring was on the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and be obedient to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord continued, “I will multiply the number of your descendants so much that you will not be able to count them.”
11 The angel of the Lord added,
“Behold, you are pregnant:
you will bear a son
and call him Ishmael,
for the Lord has listened to you in your distress.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against all
and the hands of all will be against him.
He will be opposed to all of his brothers.”
13 Hagar gave a name to the Lord who had spoken to her, “You are the God of the Vision.”[c] Therefore, she said, “Here I remained alive after having received this vision.” 14 Because of this, the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kedesh and Bered.
15 Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named the son whom Hagar had borne Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:1 The passage is Yahwist with additions from the Priestly tradition. By personal choice Abraham is monogamous and ready to die without sons rather than show disrespect to his wife Sarai (see Gen 15:2-3).
He does, however, yield to Sarai’s insistence that he follow an ancient practice that was acceptable in cases of barrenness and found a place in Mesopotamian codes of law. - Genesis 16:7 The angel of the Lord: in these ancient stories this is a conventional way of signifying sensible manifestations of God himself, “the God of the Vision” (v. 13).
- Genesis 16:13 The God of the Vision: in Hebrew, El-Roi. Hagar was amazed that she remained alive after seeing God—in contrast to the ancient belief that a person died upon seeing God (see Gen 32:31; Ex 20:19; Deut 4:33; Jdg 13:22).
Genesis 16
English Standard Version
Genesis 16
English Standard Version
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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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] 5 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!” 6 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.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to (F)Shur. 8 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.” 9 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. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:2 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
- Genesis 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5
- Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
- Genesis 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
- 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?
- Genesis 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me
Genesis 16
New International Version
Genesis 16
New International Version
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:
“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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears.
- Genesis 16:12 Or live to the east / of
- Genesis 16:13 Or seen the back of
- Genesis 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.
Genesis 16
International Standard Version
Genesis 16
International Standard Version
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. 2 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, 3 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. 4 He had sex with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
5 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!”
6 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]
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the desert on the road to Shur. 8 “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.”
9 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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:2 Lit. possibly be built up
- Genesis 16:3 The Heb. lacks This took place
- Genesis 16:5 Lit. my servant your bosom
- Genesis 16:6 Lit. her what is good in your eyes
- Genesis 16:6 Lit. her
- Genesis 16:6 Lit. her
- Genesis 16:11 I.e. God hears
- Genesis 16:11 The Heb. lacks cry of
- Genesis 16:12 Lit. be a wild donkey; i.e., stubborn, volatile, and highly resistant to being tamed
- Genesis 16:12 Lit. His hand will
- Genesis 16:12 Lit. against his hand
- Genesis 16:12 Lit. in the face of
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
International Standard Version (ISV) 
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