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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
New Living Translation
Genesis 16
New Living Translation
The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”[a] She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 16:13 Hebrew El-roi.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.