Genesis 16

Christian Standard Bible

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² Sarai^(A) 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. ³ So 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. ⁴ He slept with^[a] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!^[b] I put my slave in your arms,^[c] and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”^(B)

⁶ Abram 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.

⁷ The angel of the Lord^(C) found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He 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.”

⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,^(D) and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael,^[d] for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. ¹² This 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.”^(E)

¹³ So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,”^[e] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen^(F) the one who sees me?” ^{[f] 14} That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.^[g] It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.