Now Sarai the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children; but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

Igitur Sarai, uxor Abram, non genuerat liberos: sed habens ancillam ægyptiam nomine Agar,

And still Abram’s wife Sarai bore him no children. But she had an Egyptian maid-servant, called Agar;

She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,

dixit marito suo: Ecce, conclusit me Dominus, ne parerem. Ingredere ad ancillam meam, si forte saltem ex illa suscipiam filios. Cumque ille acquiesceret deprecanti,

and now she said to her husband, The Lord, as thou seest, denies me motherhood; betake thyself to this maid of mine, in the hope that I may at least have children through her means. So Abram consented to the wish of his wife,

She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.

tulit Agar ægyptiam ancillam suam post annos decem quam habitare cœperant in terra Chanaan: et dedit eam viro suo uxorem.

and she brought this Egyptian maid-servant of hers, Agar, and gave her to her husband as his mate, ten years after they had taken up their abode in the land of Chanaan.

And he went in to her. But she, perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

Qui ingressus est ad eam. At illa concepisse se videns, despexit dominam suam.

Abram, then, had knowledge of her, and she, finding herself with child, began to look on her mistress with scorn.

And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.

Dixitque Sarai ad Abram: Inique agis contra me: ego dedi ancillam meam in sinum tuum, quæ videns quod conceperit, despectui me habet: judicet Dominus inter me et te.

And Sarai complained to Abram, I am being wronged, through thy fault; here is this maid-servant of mine, whom I bade thee take in thy arms, treating me scornfully, now that she has conceived. May the Lord do justice between us.

And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

Cui respondens Abram: Ecce, ait, ancilla tua in manu tua est, utere ea ut libet. Affligente igitur eam Sarai, fugam iniit.

To this, Abram made answer, Is she not in thy power, thy own maid-servant? Do what thou wilt with her. Thus it was that Sarai used her cruelly, and she took refuge in flight.

And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

Cumque invenisset eam angelus Domini juxta fontem aquæ in solitudine, qui est in via Sur in deserto,

She was sitting by a well out in the wilderness, on the desert road to Sur, when an angel of the Lord found her.

He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

dixit ad illam: Agar ancilla Sarai, unde venis? et quo vadis? Quæ respondit: A facie Sarai dominæ meæ ego fugio.

Whence comes Agar, he asked, and whither does she go, that was Sarai’s maid-servant? And she answered, It is from the threats of my mistress, Sarai, that I have fled.

And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.

Dixitque ei angelus Domini: Revertere ad dominam tuam, et humiliare sub manu illius.

Then the angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to thy mistress, and submit to her will.

And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

Et rursum: Multiplicans, inquit, multiplicabo semen tuum, et non numerabitur præ multitudine.

Still will I grant increase, he said, to the race that shall spring from thee, till its numbers cannot be counted.

And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

Ac deinceps: Ecce, ait, concepisti, et paries filium: vocabisque nomen ejus Ismaël, eo quod audierit Dominus afflictionem tuam.

And he added, Now thou art with child; it is a son that will be born to thee, and thou shalt call him Ismael (that is, God hears), in token that God has listened to thee in thy affliction.

He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men’s hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.

Hic erit ferus homo: manus ejus contra omnes, et manus omnium contra eum: et e regione universorum fratrum suorum figet tabernacula.

His shall be a nature none can tame; hating all and hated by all, he shall pitch his camp eastwards of his brethren.

And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.

Vocavit autem nomen Domini qui loquebatur ad eam: Tu Deus qui vidisti me. Dixit enim: Profecto hic vidi posteriora videntis me.

Thus the Lord spoke to her, and thus she named him, Thou art God, that hast looked on me; for indeed, she said, there was one who looked on me here, and I saw him as he left me.

Therefore she called that well, The well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.

Propterea appellavit puteum illum Puteum viventis et videntis me. Ipse est inter Cades et Barad.

So she called that well, the Well of him who lives and looks on me; it is between Cades and Barad.

And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.

Peperitque Agar Abræ filium: qui vocavit nomen ejus Ismaël.

Agar, then, bore a son to Abram, and called him Ismael;

Abram was fourscore and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.

Octoginta et sex annorum erat Abram quando peperit ei Agar Ismaëlem.

Abram was eighty-six years old at the time of Ismael’s birth.