Genesis 22

¹ It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he called. 'Here Iam,' he replied.

² God said, 'Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where youare to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shal point out to you.'

³ Early next morning Abraham saddled his donkey and took with him two of his servants and his sonIsaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started on his journey to the place which God had indicated tohim.

⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

⁵ Then Abraham said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there;we shal worship and then come back to you.'

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fireand the knife. Then the two of them set out together.

⁷ Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. 'Father?' he said. 'Yes, my son,' he replied. 'Look,' he said, 'hereare the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?'

⁸ Abraham replied, 'My son, God himself wil provide the lamb for the burnt offering.' And the two ofthem went on together.

⁹ When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, andarranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood.

¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹ But the angel of Yahweh cal ed to him from heaven. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he said. 'Here I am,' hereplied.

¹² 'Do not raise your hand against the boy,' the angel said. 'Do not harm him, for now I know you fearGod. You have not refused me your own beloved son.'

¹³ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram andoffered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

¹⁴ Abraham cal ed this place 'Yahweh provides', and hence the saying today: 'On the mountain Yahwehprovides.'

¹⁵ The angel of Yahweh cal ed Abraham a second time from heaven.

¹⁶ 'I swear by my own self, Yahweh declares, that because you have done this, because you have notrefused me your own beloved son,

¹⁷ I wil shower blessings on you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven andthe grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants wil gain possession of the gates of their enemies.

¹⁸ Al nations on earth wil bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed mycommand.'

¹⁹ Abraham went back to his servants, and together they set out for Beersheba, and Abraham settled inBeersheba.

²⁰ It happened some time later that Abraham received word that Milcah, too, had now borne sons to hisbrother Nahor:

²¹ Uz his first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel father of Aram,

²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, Bethuel

²³ (and Bethuel was the father of Rebekah). These were the eight children Milcah gave Nahor,Abraham's brother.

²⁴ He had a concubine named Reumah, and she too had children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash andMaacah.