Genesis 16–17

CHAPTER 16

Sarai and Hagar

¹Now ^aSarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had ^ban Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar.

²So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, Yahweh has shut my womb from bearing children. ^aPlease go in to my servant-woman; perhaps I will ¹obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

³And after Abram had ¹lived ^aten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant-woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

⁴So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. Then she saw that she had conceived, so her mistress became ¹contemptible in her sight.

⁵And Sarai said to Abram, “^aMay the violence done to me be upon you. I gave my servant-woman into your ¹embrace, but she saw that she had conceived, so I became ²contemptible in her ³sight. ^bMay Yahweh judge between ⁴you and me.”

⁶But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant-woman is in your ¹hand; do to her what is good in your ²sight.” So Sarai afflicted her, and ^ashe fled from her presence.

⁷Now ^athe angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^bShur.

⁸And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant-woman, ^awhere have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and ¹humble yourself under her hands.”

¹⁰Moreover, the ^aangel of Yahweh said to her, “^bI will greatly multiply your seed so that ¹they will be too many to be counted.”

¹¹And the angel of Yahweh said to her further,

“Behold, you ¹are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name ²Ishmael,

Because ^aYahweh has heard your affliction.

¹²“And he will be a ^awild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will dwell ^1bin the face of all his brothers.”

¹³Then she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “¹You are ²a God who sees”; for she said, “^aHave I even ³remained alive here after seeing Him?”

¹⁴Therefore the well was called ¹Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^aKadesh and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

¹⁶Now Abram was ^aeighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ¹him.

CHAPTER 17

Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant

¹Now it happened that when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^aYahweh appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am ¹God ^bAlmighty;

Walk before Me and be ^2cblameless,

²so that I may ¹confirm My ^acovenant between Me and you,

And that I may ^bmultiply you exceedingly.”

³Then Abram ^afell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

⁴“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,

And you will be the father of a ^amultitude of nations.

⁵“And no longer shall your name be called ¹Abram,

But ^ayour name shall be ²Abraham;

For ^bI have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

⁶“And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^akings will go forth from you.

⁷“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an ^aeverlasting covenant, ^bto be God to you and ^cto your seed after you.

⁸“^aAnd I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and ^bI will be their God.”

⁹God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^ayou shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰“^aThis is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹“And ^ayou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹²“And every male among you who is ^aeight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, one who is born in the house or one who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your seed.

¹³“A servant who is born in your house or ^awho is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴“But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^acut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Sarah Will Bear Isaac

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ¹Sarah shall be her name.

¹⁶“And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^aa son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^bkings of peoples will ¹come from her.”

¹⁷Then Abraham ^afell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Will a son be born to a man one hundred years old? And ^bwill Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?”

¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you ^aa son, and you shall call his name ¹Isaac; and ^bI will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.

²⁰“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and ^awill make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. ^bHe shall ¹become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a ^cgreat nation.

²¹“But My covenant I will establish with ^aIsaac, whom ^bSarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

²²So He finished talking with him, and ^aGod went up from Abraham.

²³Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were ^aborn in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, ^bas God had spoken with him.

²⁴Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^ahe was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵And ^aIshmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

²⁷Now all the men of his household, who were ^aborn in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.