Abram and Sarai’s Servant Hagar Have a Son Named Ishmael

16:1-16

16 Now Abram’s wife Sarai had still not given birth to any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian servant woman whose name was Hagar. 2 So she told Abram, “Please listen to this: As you know, Yahweh has not allowed me to have any children, so please have marital relations with my servant woman Hagar so that maybe I can have a family through her children.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai requested. 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai gave her Egyptian servant Hagar to her husband Abram to be his second wife. This happened after Abram and Sarai had lived in the region of Canaan for ten years.

4 Then Abram had marital relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when she realized that she was pregnant, she started to disrespect her mistress Sarai. 5 So Sarai complained to Abram, “It is your fault that I am suffering! I gave my servant to you to sleep with, but now that she realizes that she is pregnant, she disrespects me! I ask Yahweh to judge whether it is you or I who is responsible for this!” 6 Abram replied to her, “Listen, you are in charge of your servant. Do with her whatever you think is best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she ran away from home to get away from her.

7 Then one of Yahweh’s angels came to Hagar by a spring of water in the desert. It was the spring by the road to the city of Shur. 8 And the angel asked her, “Hagar, who serves Sarai, where are you coming from, and where are you headed?” She answered him, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 But Yahweh’s angel told her, “Go back home to your mistress and humbly obey her as her servant.”

10 Then the angel added, “I Yahweh will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all, because there will be so many of them.”

11 Then the angel also told her,

“Listen, as you know, you are pregnant.

You will have a son,

and you are to name him Ishmael, which means “God listens,”

because Yahweh listened to you when you were suffering and has helped you.

12 When Ishmael grows up, he will be proud and free like a wild donkey.

He will fight against everyone,

and everyone will fight against him.

In fact, he will even be hostile

toward all his relatives.”

13 After Yahweh spoke to Hagar, she called him El Roi, which means “the God who sees.” She named him that, because she had exclaimed to herself, “I just now saw the back of God who sees me!” 14 That is why the name of that well is Beer Lahai Roi, which means “Well of the Living One, who sees me.” It is still there between the cities of Kadesh and Bered.

15 Then Hagar returned home and gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named his son Ishmael. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar had Ishmael for him.