Genesis 16:4-16

New Catholic Bible

⁴He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.

But once she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer treated her mistress with respect. ⁵Therefore, Sarai said to Abram, “May this affront fall upon you! I gave you my maid to embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she stopped treating me with respect. Let the Lord judge between you and me.”

⁶Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your slave is in your hands. Do with her as you see fit.” Sarai then maltreated her so much that Hagar ran away.

⁷The angel of the Lord^[a] found her near a spring in the desert. The spring was on the road to Shur. ⁸The angel said to her, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and be obedient to her.” ¹⁰The angel of the Lord continued, “I will multiply the number of your descendants so much that you will not be able to count them.”

¹¹The angel of the Lord added,

“Behold, you are pregnant:
you will bear a son
and call him Ishmael,
for the Lord has listened to you in your distress.
¹²He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against all
and the hands of all will be against him.
He will be opposed to all of his brothers.”

¹³Hagar gave a name to the Lord who had spoken to her, “You are the God of the Vision.”^[b] Therefore, she said, “Here I remained alive after having received this vision.” ¹⁴Because of this, the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kedesh and Bered.

¹⁵Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named the son whom Hagar had borne Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

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Footnotes

Genesis 16:7 The angel of the Lord: in these ancient stories this is a conventional way of signifying sensible manifestations of God himself, “the God of the Vision” (v. 13).
Genesis 16:13 The God of the Vision: in Hebrew, El-Roi. Hagar was amazed that she remained alive after seeing God—in contrast to the ancient belief that a person died upon seeing God (see Gen 32:31; Ex 20:19; Deut 4:33; Jdg 13:22).

Genesis 16:4-16

Young's Literal Translation

⁴and he goeth in unto Hagar, and she conceiveth, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and her mistress is lightly esteemed in her eyes.

⁵And Sarai saith unto Abram, `My violence [is] for thee; I -- I have given mine handmaid into thy bosom, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am lightly esteemed in her eyes; Jehovah doth judge between me and thee.'

⁶And Abram saith unto Sarai, `Lo, thine handmaid [is] in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;' and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.

⁷And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way [to] Shur,

⁸and he saith, `Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence hast thou come, and whither dost thou go?' and she saith, `From the presence of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing.'

⁹And the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, `Turn back unto thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands;'

¹⁰and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, `Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;'

¹¹and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, `Behold thou [art] conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction;

¹²and he is a wild-ass man, his hand against every one, and every one's hand against him -- and before the face of all his brethren he dwelleth.'

¹³And she calleth the name of Jehovah who is speaking unto her, `Thou [art], O God, my beholder;' for she said, `Even here have I looked behind my beholder?'

¹⁴therefore hath one called the well, `The well of the Living One, my beholder;' lo, between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵And Hagar beareth to Abram a son; and Abram calleth the name of his son, whom Hagar hath borne, Ishmael;

¹⁶and Abram [is] a son of eighty and six years in Hagar's bearing Ishmael to Abram.

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Genesis 16:4-16

New International Version

⁴He slept with Hagar,^(A) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.^(B) ⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”^(C)

⁶“Your slave is in your hands,^(D)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated^(E) Hagar; so she fled from her.

⁷The angel of the Lord^(F) found Hagar near a spring^(G) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.^(H) ⁸And he said, “Hagar,^(I) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”^(J)

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

⁹Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”^(K)

¹¹The angel of the Lord^(L) also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.^(M)
You shall name him^(N) Ishmael,^[a]^(O)
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.^(P)
¹²He will be a wild donkey^(Q) of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward^[b] all his brothers.^(R)”

¹³She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,^(S)” for she said, “I have now seen^[c] the One who sees me.”^(T) ¹⁴That is why the well^(U) was called Beer Lahai Roi^[d];^(V) it is still there, between Kadesh^(W) and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar^(X) bore Abram a son,^(Y) and Abram gave the name Ishmael^(Z) to the son she had borne. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old^(AA) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.