Genesis 16

1 Up to that time, Abram’s wife Sarai had not given birth to any children for Abram. But she had a female slave from Egypt, whose name was Hagar.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had given him no children; and she had a servant, a woman of Egypt whose name was Hagar.

2 [So one day] Sarai said to Abram, “Listen to me! Yahweh has not allowed me to become pregnant. So (sleep with/have sex with) [EUP] my slave Hagar. Perhaps she will bear children whom I can consider to be mine.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

And Sarai said to Abram, See, the Lord has not let me have children; go in to my servant, for I may get a family through her. And Abram did as Sarai said.

3 So Abram (slept with/had sex with) Hagar, his wife Sarai’s slave from Egypt. This happened ten years after they went to live in Canaan [land]. Sarai gave Hagar to her husband to be his secondary wife.

So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, and gave her to Abram for his wife.

4 He (slept with/had sex with) [EUP] Hagar and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress Sarai.

And he went in to Hagar and she became with child, and when she saw that she was with child, she no longer had any respect for her master's wife.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “It is your fault! I put my servant into your arms, so that you could sleep with her [EUP]. Now she realizes that she is pregnant, and she despises me. I think Yahweh will punish you for doing this to me!”

And Sarai said to Abram, May my wrong be on you: I gave you my servant for your wife and when she saw that she was with child, she no longer had any respect for me: may the Lord be judge between you and me.

6 So Abram said to Sarai, “[You listen to me]! She is your servant, so act towards her in the way you consider best.” Then Sarai started to mistreat her, so she ran away from Sarai.

And Abram said, The woman is in your power; do with her whatever seems good to you. And Sarai was cruel to her, so that she went running away from her.

7 An angel of Yahweh found her as she was near a spring of water in the desert. It was the spring that was alongside the road to Shur.

And an angel of the Lord came to her by a fountain of water in the waste land, by the fountain on the way to Shur.

8 He said to her, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I have run away from Sarai, my mistress.”

And he said, Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from and where are you going? And she said, I am running away from Sarai, my master's wife.

9 The angel said, “Go back to your mistress and be under her authority [MTY]”.

And the angel said to her, Go back, and put yourself under her authority.

10 The angel also said to her, “I will enable you to bear so many descendants that no one will be able to count them!”

And the angel of the Lord said, Your seed will be greatly increased so that it may not be numbered.

11 The angel also said to her, “[Listen to this!] You are pregnant. You will give birth to a son. You must name him Ishmael, [which means ‘God hears]’, because Yahweh has heard you crying because you feel so miserable.

And the angel of the Lord said, See, you are with child and will give birth to a son, to whom you will give the name Ishmael, because the ears of the Lord were open to your sorrow.

12 But your son will be as uncontrollable as a wild donkey [MET]. He will oppose everyone, and everyone will oppose him [MTY]. He will live far away from his relatives [SYN].”

And he will be like a mountain ass among men; his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him, and he will keep his place against all his brothers.

13 Then Hagar realized that the angel was really Yahweh, so she said to herself, “(It is difficult to believe that I have really seen the back of Yahweh, the one who sees me!/Have I really seen the back of Yahweh, the one who sees me?)” [RHQ] So she called him ‘Yahweh, the one who sees me’.

And to the Lord who was talking with her she gave this name, You are a God who is seen; for she said, Have I not even here in the waste land had a vision of God and am still living?

14 That is why people call the well there ‘Beer-Lahai-Roi’, [which means, ‘The well of the living one who sees us’!] It is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

So that fountain was named, Fountain of Life and Vision: it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar later gave birth to a son for Abram, and she gave to her son the name Ishmael.

And Hagar gave birth to a child, the son of Abram, to whom Abram gave the name of Ishmael.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son Ishmael.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.