The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child.
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Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
2 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.
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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 by her. ” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
3 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.
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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 He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When she learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.
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And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
5 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."
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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 "You decide," said Abram. "Your maid is your business." Sarai was abusive to Hagar and she ran away.
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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 An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur.
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The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
8 He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?" She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."
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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 God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse."
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The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her. ”
10 He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting.
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The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. ”
11 From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael; for God heard you, God answered you.
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And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 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."
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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 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!"
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So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing, ” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me. ”
14 That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
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Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael.
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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 gave him his son, Ishmael.
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Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025