Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² Sarai^(A) said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. ⁴ He slept with^[a] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!^[b] I put my slave in your arms,^[c] and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”^(B)

⁶ Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord^(C) found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,^(D) and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael,^[d] for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. ¹² This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”^(E)

¹³ So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,”^[e] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen^(F) the one who sees me?” ^{[f] 14} That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.^[g] It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

⁹ But Sarah saw the son mocking—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham.^{(A) 10} So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” ^(B)

¹¹ This was very distressing to^[a] Abraham because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed^[b] about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac,^{(C) 13} and I will also make a nation of the slave’s son^(D) because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. ¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes ¹⁶ and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance, she^[c] wept loudly.^(E)

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying, and the^[d] angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is.

Ishmael’s Family Records

¹² These are the family records^(A) of Abraham’s son Ishmael,^(B) whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.

²⁴ These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai^(A) and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar.^(B)

²⁵ Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia^(A) and corresponds to the present Jerusalem,^(B) for she is in slavery with her children.