Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 Sarai, Abram's wife, had not been able to have children. Since she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar,
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Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child.
2 Sarai said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from giving birth, so go to my servant. Maybe she will provide me with children." Abram did just as Sarai said.
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Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
3 After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took her Egyptian servant Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.
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So Sarai, Abram's wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place.
4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer respected her mistress.
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He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When she learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.
5 Sarai said to Abram, "This harassment is your fault. I allowed you to embrace my servant, but when she realized she was pregnant, I lost her respect. Let the LORD decide who is right, you or me."
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Sarai told Abram, "It's all your fault that I'm suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she's pregnant, she treats me like I'm nothing. May God decide which of us is right."
6 Abram said to Sarai, "Since she's your servant, do whatever you wish to her." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from Sarai.
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"You decide," said Abram. "Your maid is your business." Sarai was abusive to Hagar and she ran away.
7 The LORD's messenger found Hagar at a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur,
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An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur.
8 and said, "Hagar! Sarai's servant! Where did you come from and where are you going?" She said, "From Sarai my mistress. I'm running away."
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He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?" She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."
9 The LORD's messenger said to her, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her harsh treatment of you."
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The angel of God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse."
10 The LORD's messenger also said to her, "I will give you many children, so many they can't be counted!"
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He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting.
11 The LORD's messenger said to her, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You will name him Ishmael because the LORD has heard about your harsh treatment.
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From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael; for God heard you, God answered you.
12 He will be a wild mule of a man; he will fight everyone, and they will fight him. He will live at odds with all his relatives."
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He'll be a bucking bronco of a man, a real fighter, fighting and being fought, Always stirring up trouble, always at odds with his family."
13 Hagar named the LORD who spoke to her, "You are El Roi" because she said, "Can I still see after he saw me?"
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She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, "You're the God who sees me!" "Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!"
14 Therefore, that well is called Beer-lahai-roi; it's the well between Kadesh and Bered.
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That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named him Ishmael.
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Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael.
16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram.
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Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave him his son, Ishmael.