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

Learn More

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

1Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.”

And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. 4And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.#16:4 Or her mistress became despised in her sight

5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

7Now the angel #16:7 Or Angel; also in verses 9, 10, and 11; corresponding pronouns may also be capitalized. of the Lord found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur. 8“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.

9So the angel of the Lord told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”

11The angel of the Lord proceeded:

“Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son.

And you shall name him Ishmael,#16:11 Ishmael means God hears.

for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.

12He will be a wild donkey of a man,

and his hand will be against everyone,

and everyone’s hand against him;

he will live in hostility

toward all his brothers.”

13So Hagar gave this name to the Lord who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,#16:13 Hebrew El-Roi” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!” 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi.#16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means well of the Living One who sees me. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15And 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 Ishmael to him.

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 16

Genesis 16