Genesis 16-17

New International Version

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai,^(A) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.^(B) But she had an Egyptian slave^(C) named Hagar;^(D) ²so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.^(E) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”^(F)

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³So after Abram had been living in Canaan^(G) ten years,^(H) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴He slept with Hagar,^(I) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.^(J) 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.”^(K)

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

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

“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.”^(S)

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

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.^(U)
You shall name him^(V) Ishmael,^[a]^(W)
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.^(X)
¹²He will be a wild donkey^(Y) 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.^(Z)”

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

¹⁵So Hagar^(AF) bore Abram a son,^(AG) and Abram gave the name Ishmael^(AH) to the son she had borne. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old^(AI) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^(AJ) the Lord appeared to him^(AK) and said, “I am God Almighty^[e];^(AL) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^(AM) ²Then I will make my covenant between me and you^(AN) and will greatly increase your numbers.”^(AO)

³Abram fell facedown,^(AP) and God said to him, ⁴“As for me, this is my covenant with you:^(AQ) You will be the father of many nations.^(AR) ⁵No longer will you be called Abram^[f]; your name will be Abraham,^[g]^(AS) for I have made you a father of many nations.^(AT) ⁶I will make you very fruitful;^(AU) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^(AV) ⁷I will establish my covenant^(AW) as an everlasting covenant^(AX) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^(AY) and the God of your descendants after you.^(AZ) ⁸The whole land of Canaan,^(BA) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(BB) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^(BC) and I will be their God.^(BD)”

⁹Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,^(BE) you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.^(BF) ¹⁰This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.^(BG) ¹¹You are to undergo circumcision,^(BH) and it will be the sign of the covenant^(BI) between me and you. ¹²For the generations to come^(BJ) every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,^(BK) including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.^(BL) My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.^(BM) ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised^(BN) in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;^(BO) he has broken my covenant.^(BP)”

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^(BQ) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^(BR) ¹⁶I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^(BS) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^(BT) kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown;^(BU) he laughed^(BV) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^(BW) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^(BX) ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^(BY) might live under your blessing!”^(BZ)

¹⁹Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^(CA) and you will call him Isaac.^[h]^(CB) I will establish my covenant with him^(CC) as an everlasting covenant^(CD) for his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^(CE) He will be the father of twelve rulers,^(CF) and I will make him into a great nation.^(CG) ²¹But my covenant^(CH) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(CI) by this time next year.”^(CJ) ²²When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^(CK)

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^(CL) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^(CM) ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old^(CN) when he was circumcised,^(CO) ²⁵and his son Ishmael^(CP) was thirteen; ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ²⁷And every male in Abraham’s household^(CQ), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.