Genesis 16

16 verses · Chapter 16 of 50 · NIV Translation

Chapter 15Chapter 17

1Hagar and Ishmael Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;

2so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

3So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

8And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”

10The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

11The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.

12He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

13She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

14That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

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Common Questions about Genesis 16

What is Genesis 16 about?

Genesis 16 contains 16 verses. It begins: "Hagar and Ishmael Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;..."

How many verses are in Genesis 16?

Genesis Chapter 16 contains 16 verses in the NIV translation.

What book of the Bible is Genesis 16 in?

Genesis 16 is in the book of Genesis, which has 50 chapters total. Genesis is part of the Bible's canon of Scripture.

All 50 Chapters of Genesis

Read Genesis 16 in Other Translations