Read Amplified Bible, 2015 Genesis 16 Bible Online

Genesis 16 - Amplified Bible, 2015 bible

Genesis 16

¹Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

²So Sarai said to Abram, "See here, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will[1] obtain children by her." And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said.

³After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.

⁴He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility].

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, "May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the LORD judge [who has done right] between you and me."

⁶But Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her." So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

⁷But[2] the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur.

⁸And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where did you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai."

⁹The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Go back to your mistress, and submit[3] humbly to her authority."

¹⁰Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

¹¹The Angel of the LORD continued, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears), Because the LORD has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).

¹²"He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man; His hand will be against every man [continually fighting] And every man's hand against him; And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers."

¹³Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are[4] God Who Sees"; for she said, "Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after[5] seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?"

¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is[6] between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar gave birth to Abram's son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth,[7] Ishmael (God hears).

¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.