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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
Genesis 16
Lexham English Bible
Sarai and Hagar
16 Now[a] Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps I will have children by her.”[b] And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 Then[c] Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she[d] saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “may my harm be upon you. I had my servant sleep with you,[e] and when she saw that she had conceived, she no longer respected me.[f] May Yahweh judge between me and you!” 6 And Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your servant is under your authority.[g] Do to her that which is good in your eyes.” And Sarai mistreated her, and she[h] fled from her presence.
Hagar and the Angel of Yahweh
7 And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. 8 And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, “From where[i] have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress.” 9 Then[j] the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her authority.”[k] 10 And the angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly multiply[l] your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance.” 11 And the angel of Yahweh said to her:
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall have a son.
And you shall call his name Ishmael,
for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.
12 And he shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand will be against everyone,
and the hand of everyone will be against him,
and he will live in hostility with all his brothers.”[m]
13 So[n] she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are El-Roi,”[o] for she said, “Here I have seen after he who sees me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 16:1 Or “And”
- Genesis 16:2 Literally “I will be built from her”
- Genesis 16:3 Or “And”
- Genesis 16:4 That is, Hagar
- Genesis 16:5 Literally “I put my servant in your lap”
- Genesis 16:5 Literally “I grew small in her eyes”
- Genesis 16:6 Literally “in your hand”
- Genesis 16:6 That is, Hagar
- Genesis 16:8 Literally “where from this”
- Genesis 16:9 Or “And”
- Genesis 16:9 Literally “her hand”
- Genesis 16:10 Literally “multiplying I will multiply”
- Genesis 16:12 Literally “against the face of all his brothers”
- Genesis 16:13 Or “And”
- Genesis 16:13 “God of seeing”
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