Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

¹Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.²³Sarai 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.⁴⁵So 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 ten years.⁶⁷He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.⁸⁹Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”¹⁰

¹¹Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.¹²

¹³The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.¹⁴¹⁵He 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.”¹⁶

¹⁷The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.”¹⁸¹⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”²⁰

²¹The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.²²²³This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”²⁴

²⁵So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”²⁶²⁷That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.²⁸

²⁹So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael.³⁰³¹Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.³²