Genesis 16

The Birth of Ishmael

1Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; 2and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar'ai. 3So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar'ai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5And Sar'ai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!" 6But Abram said to Sar'ai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sar'ai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

7The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8And he said, "Hagar, maid of Sar'ai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sar'ai." 9The angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her." 10The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude." 11And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish'mael;a because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. 12He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen." 13So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "Thou art a God of seeing"; for she said, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?"b 14Therefore the well was called Beer-la'hai-roi;c it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

15And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ish'mael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ish'mael to Abram.