A reading from the book of Genesis.

Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.

She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar, and Surai said to Abram,

Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.

Go into my servant, it may be that I shall obtain children by her.

And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 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. And he went into Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had

conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 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.

But Abram said to Sarai,

Behold, your servant is in your power, due to her as you please. Then Sarai dealt harshly with her,

and she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness,

the spring on the way to Cher, 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. The angel of the Lord said to her, return to your mistress,

and submit to her. The angel of the Lord also said to her,

I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. 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. He shall be a wild

donkey of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell

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