Genesis 16
16
Sarai and Hagar
1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will #16:2 Lit be built from herobtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3And so after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. 5So Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your #16:5 Lit breastarms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her #16:5 Lit eyessight. May the Lord judge between #16:5 Lit me and youyou and me.” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your #16:6 Lit handpower; do to her what is good in your #16:6 Lit eyessight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
7Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit #16:9 Lit under her handsto her authority.” 10The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your #16:10 Lit seeddescendants so that #16:10 Lit they shall not be counted for multitudethey will be too many to count.” 11The angel of the Lord said to her further,
“Behold, you are pregnant,
And you will give birth to a son;
And you shall name him #16:11 I.e., God hearsIshmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12“But he will be a wild donkey of a man;
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will live #16:12 Lit before the face of; or oppositein defiance of all his brothers.”
13Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “#16:13 Or You, God, see meYou are #16:13 Heb Elroia God who sees me”; for she said, “Have I even seen Him here and lived after #16:13 Lit His seeing meHe saw me?” 14Therefore the well was called #16:14 I.e., the well of the living one who sees meBeer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15So Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to #16:16 Lit Abramhim.
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Genesis 16
16
Hagar and Ishmael
1Sarai, Abram’s wife, had no children. She had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar. 2Sarai said to Abram, “Look, the Lord has not allowed me to have children. So have physical relations with my slave girl. If she has a child, maybe I can have my own family through her.”
Abram did what Sarai said. 3This was after Abram lived ten years in Canaan. And Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram. (Hagar was her slave girl from Egypt.)
4Abram had physical relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress Sarai badly. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is your fault. I gave my slave girl to you. And when she became pregnant, she began to treat me badly. Let the Lord decide who is right—you or me.”
6But Abram said to Sarai, “You are Hagar’s mistress. Do anything you want to her.” Then Sarai was hard on Hagar, and Hagar ran away.
7The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the desert. The spring was by the road to Shur. 8The angel said, “Hagar, you are Sarai’s slave girl. Where have you come from? Where are you going?”
Hagar answered, “I am running from my mistress Sarai.”
9The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go home to your mistress and obey her.” 10The angel of the Lord also said, “I will give you so many descendants they cannot be counted.”
11The angel also said to her,
“You are now pregnant,
and you will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,# The Hebrew words for “Ishmael” and “has heard” sound similar.
because the Lord has heard your cries.
12Ishmael will be like a wild donkey.
He will be against everyone.
And everyone will be against him.
He will attack all his brothers.”
13The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She said to him, “You are ‘God who sees me.’” This is because she said to herself, “Have I really seen God who sees me?” 14So the well there was called Beer Lahai Roi.# This means “the well of the Living One who sees me.” It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram. And Abram named him Ishmael. 16Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
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