Genesis 16 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Sarai and Hagar

Gen 16:1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.

Gen 16:2And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[fn] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Gen 16:3

Gen 16:3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

Gen 16:4

Gen 16:4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.[fn]

Gen 16:5

Gen 16:5And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant 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!”

Gen 16:6

Gen 16:6But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Gen 16:7

Gen 16:7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

Gen 16:8

Gen 16:8And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

Gen 16:9

Gen 16:9The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

Gen 16:10

Gen 16:10The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

Gen 16:11

Gen 16:11And the angel of the LORD said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,[fn]
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

Gen 16:12

Gen 16:12He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Gen 16:13

Gen 16:13So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[fn] for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[fn]

Gen 16:14

Gen 16:14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[fn] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

Gen 16:15

Gen 16:15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

Gen 16:16

Gen 16:16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(16:2)

Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children

(16:4)

Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5

(16:11)

Ishmael means God hears

(16:13)

Or You are a God who sees me

(16:13)

Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?

(16:14)

Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Genesis Chapter 16 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Genesis 16 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Sarai and Hagar

ESV Footnotes

Genesis Chapter 16 — Additional Translations:

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