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Genesis 16

New International Reader’s Version



1 Abram’s wife Sarai had never had any children by him. But she had a female slave from Egypt named Hagar. 2 So she said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go and sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have a family through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai had said. 3 His wife Sarai gave him her slave Hagar to be his wife. That was after he had been living in Canaan for ten years. 4 Then he slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on the woman who owned her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘It’s your fault that I’m suffering like this. I put my slave in your arms. Now that she knows she’s pregnant, she looks down on me. May the LORD judge between you and me. May he decide which of us is right.’ 6 ‘Your slave belongs to you,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her what you think is best.’ Then Sarai treated Hagar badly. So Hagar ran away from her. 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was beside the road to Shur. 8 The angel said, ‘Hagar, you are Sarai’s slave. Where have you come from? Where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my owner Sarai,’ she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, ‘Go back to the woman who owns you. Obey her.’ 10 The angel continued, ‘I will give you and your family many children. There will be more of them than anyone can count.’ 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her, ‘You are now pregnant and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, because the LORD has heard about your suffering. 12 He will be like a wild donkey. He will use his power against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will not get along with any of his family.’ 13 She gave a name to the LORD who spoke to her. She called him ‘You are the God who sees me.’ That’s because she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’ 14 That’s why the well was named Beer Lahai Roi. It’s still there, between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar had a son by Abram and Abram gave him the name Ishmael. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar had Ishmael by him. 

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Genesis 16

English Standard Version



1 Now 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) 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[1] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, 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) 4 And 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) 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 the Lord judge between you and me!” (Ge 31:53; 1Sa 24:12) 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 Shur. (Ge 25:18; Ex 15:22) 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, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Ge 17:20; Ge 21:18; Ge 25:12) 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,[3] because the Lord has listened to your affliction. (Ge 29:32) 12 He 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) 13 So 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) 14 Therefore 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) 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. 

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