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Sarai and Hagar

16 Now (A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had (B)an Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, Yahweh has shut my womb from bearing children. (C)Please go in to my servant-woman; perhaps I will [a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. And after Abram had [b]lived (D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant-woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. Then she saw that she had conceived, so her mistress became [c]contemptible in her sight. And Sarai said to Abram, “(E)May the violence done to me be upon you. I gave my servant-woman into your [d]embrace, but she saw that she had conceived, so I became [e]contemptible in her [f]sight. (F)May Yahweh judge between [g]you and me.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant-woman is in your [h]hand; do to her what is good in your [i]sight.” So Sarai afflicted her, and (G)she fled from her presence.

Now (H)the angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to (I)Shur. And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant-woman, (J)where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and [j]humble yourself under her hands.” 10 Moreover, the (K)angel of Yahweh said to her, “(L)I will greatly multiply your seed so that [k]they will be too many to be counted.” 11 And the angel of Yahweh said to her further,

“Behold, you [l]are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall call his name [m]Ishmael,
Because (M)Yahweh has heard your affliction.
12 And he will be a (N)wild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will dwell [n](O)in the face of all his brothers.”

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

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Lit be built from her
  2. Genesis 16:3 Lit dwelt
  3. Genesis 16:4 Or cursed, cf. 12:3
  4. Genesis 16:5 Lit bosom
  5. Genesis 16:5 Or cursed, cf. 12:3
  6. Genesis 16:5 Lit eyes
  7. Genesis 16:5 Lit me and you
  8. Genesis 16:6 Or power
  9. Genesis 16:6 Lit eyes
  10. Genesis 16:9 Lit afflict, cf. 16:6
  11. Genesis 16:10 Or it shall not be counted for multitude
  12. Genesis 16:11 Or have conceived, cf. 3:16; 21:2; 25:21; Ex 2:2; 1 Sam 1:20; Luke 1:31, 36
  13. Genesis 16:11 Lit God hears
  14. Genesis 16:12 Or to the east of, in defiance of
  15. Genesis 16:13 Or You, O God, see me
  16. Genesis 16:13 Heb El roi
  17. Genesis 16:13 Lit seen here after the one who saw me
  18. Genesis 16:14 Lit the well of the living one who sees me
  19. Genesis 16:16 Lit Abram

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.[a] So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. He slept with[b] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering![c] I put my slave in your arms,[d] and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”(A)

Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

The Angel of the Lord(B) found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.”[e] 10 The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,(C) and they will be too many to count.”

11 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:

You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,[f]
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.
12 This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with[g] all his brothers.(D)

13 So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees,[h] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen(E) the One who sees me?”[i] 14 That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[j] It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 16:2 Lit Abram listened to the voice of Sarai
  2. Genesis 16:4 Lit He came to
  3. Genesis 16:5 Or May my suffering be on you
  4. Genesis 16:5 Lit bosom
  5. Genesis 16:9 Lit to mistreatment under her hand
  6. Genesis 16:11 = God Hears
  7. Genesis 16:12 Or live away from
  8. Genesis 16:13 Lit her: You God Who Sees
  9. Genesis 16:13 Hb obscure
  10. Genesis 16:14 Or Beer-lahai-roi