Abraham and Isaac

22 Some time later, God wanted to see if Abraham really trusted him. God said to him, ‘Abraham!’ Abraham replied, ‘Here I am.’ ² God said, ‘Take your son and go to the land of Moriah. Take your only son Isaac, whom you love. You must offer him to me there as a burnt offering. I will show you the mountain where you must do this.’

³ Abraham got up early the next morning. He made his donkey ready for the journey. He took two servants with him, and also his son Isaac. First, he cut wood for the fire to make the burnt offering. Then he started on his journey to the place that God had told him. ⁴ On the third day of the journey, Abraham could see the place. It was not very far away. ⁵ He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. I will take the boy and we will go over there. We will worship God in that place and then we will come back to you.’^[a]

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering. He gave it to Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to his father, Abraham. He said, ‘Father?’ Abraham replied ‘Yes my son, what is it?’ Isaac replied, ‘I see that the fire and the wood are here. But where is the lamb so that we can make the burnt offering?’^[b]

⁸ Abraham replied, ‘My son, God himself will bring the lamb for the burnt offering.’

The two of them continued to walk on together. ⁹ They came to the place that God told them. Abraham built an altar there. He put the wood on it, ready for the fire. Then he tied his son Isaac. He lifted him up and he put him on top of the wood on the altar. ¹⁰ Then Abraham took hold of the knife. He was ready to kill his son as a sacrifice.

¹¹ But then the angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham from heaven. He said, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ Abraham replied, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² The angel said, ‘Do not hurt the boy! Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you respect God and you obey him. Isaac is your only son and you agreed to offer him to me as a sacrifice. You did not try to keep him safe.’^[c]

¹³ Just then, Abraham looked round and he saw a male sheep behind him. Its horns were caught in some bushes. So he went and he took hold of the sheep. Abraham killed the sheep on the altar as a burnt offering to God. In that way, he killed the sheep as a sacrifice, instead of his son.^[d]

¹⁴ Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will give me what I need.’^[e] People still say today, ‘On the mountain of the Lord, he will give us what we need.’

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called from heaven to Abraham again. ¹⁶ The angel said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I promise that this is what I will do for you. You did not try to keep your son safe, but you offered him to me. And he was your only son. ¹⁷ Because you have done this, I will bless you. I will make your descendants become so many that people cannot count them. They will be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore by the sea. Your descendants will win against their enemies and their enemies' cities. ¹⁸ I will bless all the nations on the earth through your descendants. I will do this because you have obeyed me.’

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, with Isaac. Together they all left to go to Beersheba. Abraham lived there for a time.

²⁰ Later, someone told Abraham ‘Milcah also has given birth to children. Your brother Nahor is their father.’ ²¹ The names of the children were: Uz, the son who was born first. Then his brother Buz. Then Kemuel, who is the father of Aram. ²² Then five more sons: Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. ²³ Bethuel later became the father of Rebekah. Those were the eight sons of Milcah and Abraham's brother, Nahor. ²⁴ Nahor also had a slave wife. Her name was Reumah. She also gave birth to sons for Nahor. Their names were: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.