^21:14Early in the morning Abraham took²⁴ some food²⁵ and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child,²⁶ and sent her away. So she went wandering²⁷ aimlessly through the wilderness²⁸ of Beer Sheba. ^21:15When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved²⁹ the child under one of the shrubs. ^21:16Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot³⁰ away; for she thought,³¹ “I refuse to watch the child die.”³² So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.³³

^21:17But God heard the boy’s voice.³⁴ The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter,³⁵ Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard³⁶ the boy’s voice right where he is crying. ^21:18Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” ^21:19Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water.³⁷ She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

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Footnotes

24 Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
25 Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
26 Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
27 Heb “she went and wandered.”
28 Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
29 Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (), 2:.
30 A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
31 Heb “said.”
32 Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.
33 Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.
34 God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.
35 Heb “What to you?”
36 Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
37 Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes 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 wept loudly.

God heard the boy crying, and the 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. Get up, help the boy up, and grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink.

NLTNew Living Translation

So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.

But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”

Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba. And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes. And she went and she sat opposite him, at a distance, a bowshot away, for she said, “Let me not see the child’s death.” So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the cry of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, “What is the matter Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry of the boy from where he is. Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy.

KJV 1900King James Version

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

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