1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;2so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai said.3So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.5Then 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.’6‘Your slave is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’ Then Sarai ill-treated Hagar; so she fled from her.7The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.8And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered.9Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’10The angel added, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’11The angel of the Lord also said to her: ‘You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,[1] for the Lord has heard of your misery.12He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards[2] all his brothers.’13She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen[3] the One who sees me.’14That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi[4]; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Genesis 16
English Standard Version
Sarai and Hagar
1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. (Ge 15:2; Ge 21:9; Ga 4:24)2And 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[1] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.3So, after Abram 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. (Ge 12:5)4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.[2] (1Sa 1:6)5And 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 the Lord judge between you and me!” (Ge 31:53; 1Sa 24:12)6But 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.7The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. (Ge 25:18; Ex 15:22)8And 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.”9The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”10The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Ge 17:20; Ge 21:18; Ge 25:12)11And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael,[3] because the Lord has listened to your affliction. (Ge 29:32)12He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” (Ge 21:20; Ge 25:18; Job 39:5)13So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[4] for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[5] (Ge 32:30; Ex 19:21; Ex 33:20; Jud 13:22)14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[6] it lies between Kadesh and Bered. (Ge 14:7; Ge 20:1; Ge 24:62; Ge 25:11; Nu 13:26)15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.