The Birth of Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had a maidservant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Please go in to my maid; it may be that I will obtain children through her.”

Abram listened to Sarai. ³ So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, his wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived.

When she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid into your arms; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her presence.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. It was the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?”

And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her,

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord that spoke to her, “You are the God who sees,” for she said, “Have I now looked on Him who sees me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the son she bore Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.