1Now#Or “And” Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps I will have children by her.”#Literally “I will be built from her” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3Then#Or “And” Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she#That is, Hagar saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes. 5And Sarai said to Abram, “may my harm be upon you. I had my servant sleep with you,#Literally “I put my servant in your lap” and when she saw that she had conceived, she no longer respected me.#Literally “I grew small in her eyes” May Yahweh judge between me and you!” 6And Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your servant is under your authority.#Literally “in your hand” Do to her that which is good in your eyes.” And Sarai mistreated her, and she#That is, Hagar fled from her presence.

Hagar and the Angel of Yahweh

7And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. 8And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, “From where#Literally “where from this” have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress.” 9Then#Or “And” the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her authority.”#Literally “her hand” 10And the angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly multiply#Literally “multiplying I will multiply” your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance.” 11And the angel of Yahweh said to her:

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall have a son.

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.

12And he shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand will be against everyone,

and the hand of everyone will be against him,

and he will live in hostility with all his brothers.”#Literally “against the face of all his brothers”

13So#Or “And” she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are El-Roi,”#“God of seeing” for she said, “Here I have seen after he who sees me.” 14Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. 16And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software

Learn More

Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

1Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. # Lit Abram listened to the voice of Sarai 3So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4He slept with # Lit He came to Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! # Or May my suffering be on you I put my slave in your arms, # Lit bosom and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.” # Gn 31:49; Jos 22:25; 1Sm 24:12

6Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

7The Angel of the Lord # Gn 22:11; Ex 3:2; Nm 22:22; Jdg 2:1; 2Sm 24:16; 1Kg 19:7; 2Kg 19:35; Ps 34:7 found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? ”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

9Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.” # Lit to mistreatment under her hand 10The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, # Gn 15:5; 17:2; 26:24; Lv 26:9; Dt 7:13; 30:5; Ps 107:38 and they will be too many to count.”

11Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:

You have conceived and will have a son.

You will name him Ishmael, # = God Hears

for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.

12This man will be like a wild donkey.

His hand will be against everyone,

and everyone’s hand will be against him;

he will live at odds with # Or live away from all his brothers. # Gn 25:18

13So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, # Lit her: You God Who Sees for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen # Gn 32:30; Ex 33:23; Ps 139:1-12 the One who sees me? ” # Hb obscure 14That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” # Or Beer-lahai-roi It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had. 16Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 16

Genesis 16