• Sarai and Hagar

    16

     Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[a] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.[b] 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

    7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10  The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11  And the angel of the Lord said to her,

    “Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
    You shall call his name Ishmael,[c]
    because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
    12  He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone's hand against him,
    and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

    13  So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[d] for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[e] 14  Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[f] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

    15  And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16  Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.


    Footnotes:

    1. Genesis 16:2 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
    2. Genesis 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5
    3. Genesis 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
    4. Genesis 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
    5. Genesis 16:13 Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?
    6. Genesis 16:14 Beer-lahai-roimeans the well of the Living One who sees me

    Cross references:

    1. Genesis 16:1 : ch. 15:2, 3
    2. Genesis 16:1 : ch. 21:9; Gal. 4:24
    3. Genesis 16:3 : ch. 12:5
    4. Genesis 16:4 : [1 Sam. 1:6, 7]
    5. Genesis 16:5 : ch. 31:53; 1 Sam. 24:12
    6. Genesis 16:7 : ch. 25:18; Ex. 15:22
    7. Genesis 16:10 : ch. 17:20; 21:18; See ch. 25:12-18
    8. Genesis 16:11 : [ch. 29:32]
    9. Genesis 16:12 : Job 39:5-8; [ch. 21:20]
    10. Genesis 16:12 : ch. 25:18
    11. Genesis 16:13 : [ch. 32:30; Ex. 19:21; 33:20; Judg. 13:22]
    12. Genesis 16:14 : ch. 24:62; 25:11
    13. Genesis 16:14 : ch. 14:7; 20:1; Num. 13:26


The English Standard Version (ESV) is an essentially literal translation of the Bible in contemporary English. 《圣经》是上帝默示的,是完整无误的,请从《圣经》的总原则解经。上帝是圣洁、公义、良善、信实的,上帝是永远不会错的,上帝要成就的事情就一定会成就。天国里也不娶也不嫁!上帝的旨意是要我们成为圣洁,远避淫行;要常常喜乐,不住地祷告,凡事谢恩。感谢至高之处的上帝!
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