Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 32
26
Genesis 16
PG 24
DIRECT
PG 24
SCENIC
16:1-16
16:1-16
10
12
THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL
God had promised Abram that he would have descendants, and they would inherit
all his blessings. But that was years ago, and Sarai is still not pregnant. They still
have no son. Disappointed and worried, Sarai decides that something must be
done. She intervenes, following a common cultural practice.
them, and in the end they will come away
with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in
peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After
four generations your descendants will return
here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites
do not yet warrant their destruction.”
17
After the sun went down and darkness fell,
Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming
torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram
that day and said, “I have given this land to
your descendants, all the way from the border
of Egypt* to the great Euphrates River—19 the
land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites,
Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Repha
ites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and
Jebusites.”
THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL
16
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been
able to bear children for him. But she
had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So
Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep
with my servant. Perhaps I can have children
through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s
proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar
the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as
a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram
had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4
So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar,
and she became pregnant. But when Hagar
knew she was pregnant, she began to treat
her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sa
rai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put
my servant into your arms, but now that she’s
pregnant she treats me with contempt. The
Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
6
Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant,
so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai
treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran
away.
7
The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside
a spring of water in the wilderness, along the
road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar,
Sarai’s servant, where have you come from,
and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress, Sa
rai,” she replied.
9
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return
to your mistress, and submit to her authority.”
10
Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
11
And the angel also said, “You are now
pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to
name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’),
for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
12
This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist
against everyone, and everyone will be against
him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against
all his relatives.”
13
Thereafter, Hagar used another name to
refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She
said, “You are the God who sees me.”* She
also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees
me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi
(which means “well of the Living One who sees
me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and
Bered.
15
So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram
named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six
years old when Ishmael was born.
15:18 Hebrew the river of Egypt, referring either to an eastern branch
of the Nile River or to the Brook of Egypt in the Sinai (see Num 34:5).
16:13 Hebrew El-roi.
