Genesis 16
16
1And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name [is] Hagar;
2and Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘Lo, I pray thee, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing, go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; perhaps I am built up from her;’ and Abram hearkeneth to the voice of Sarai.
3And Sarai, Abram's wife, taketh Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, at the end of the tenth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and giveth her to Abram her husband, to him for a wife,
4and he goeth in unto Hagar, and she conceiveth, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and her mistress is lightly esteemed in her eyes.
5And Sarai saith unto Abram, ‘My violence [is] for thee; I — I have given mine handmaid into thy bosom, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am lightly esteemed in her eyes; Jehovah doth judge between me and thee.’
6And Abram saith unto Sarai, ‘Lo, thine handmaid [is] in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;’ and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.
7And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way [to] Shur,
8and he saith, ‘Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?’ and she saith, ‘From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.’
9And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Turn back unto thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands;’
10and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;’
11and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, ‘Behold thou [art] conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction;
12and he is a wild-ass man, his hand against every one, and every one's hand against him — and before the face of all his brethren he dwelleth.’
13And she calleth the name of Jehovah who is speaking unto her, ‘Thou [art], O God, my beholder;’ for she said, ‘Even here have I looked behind my beholder?’
14therefore hath one called the well, ‘The well of the Living One, my beholder;’ lo, between Kadesh and Bered.
15And Hagar beareth to Abram a son; and Abram calleth the name of his son, whom Hagar hath borne, Ishmael;
16and Abram [is] a son of eighty and six years in Hagar's bearing Ishmael to Abram.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 16
16
The Birth of Ishmael
1#Gal 4:24; Ge 12:16Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had a maidservant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Please go in to my maid; it may be that I will obtain children through her.”
Abram listened to Sarai. 3#Ge 12:4–5So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, his wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived.
When she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise her mistress. 5#Ge 31:53; Ex 5:21Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid into your arms; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6But Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her presence.
7#Ge 25:18; Ex 15:22The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. It was the spring on the way to Shur. 8#Ge 3:9And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?”
And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” 10#Ge 17:20; 21:13; 22:15–18The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they will be too many to count.”
11#Ex 3:7; 2:23–24Then the angel of the Lord said to her,
“You are pregnant
and will bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12#Ge 25:18; Job 39:5–8; Ge 21:20 He will be a wild man;
his hand will be against every man,
and every man’s hand will be against him.
And he will dwell
in the presence of all his brothers.”
13#Ge 32:30; Ps 139:1–12Then she called the name of the Lord that spoke to her, “You are the God who sees,” for she said, “Have I now looked on Him who sees me?” 14#Ge 24:62; 25:11Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15#Ge 25:12So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the son she bore Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
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