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God Tests Abraham

22 And it happened that after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where[a] I will tell you.” And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance. And Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together. And Isaac said to Abraham his father, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “God will provide[b] the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went together.

And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are one who fears[c] God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh will provide,”[d] for which reason[e] it is said today, “on the mountain of Yahweh it shall be provided.”[f] 15 And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven. 16 And he said, “I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, 17 that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. 18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice.” 19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

20 And it happened that after these things, it was told to Abraham, “Look, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 and Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 (Now, Bethuel fathered Rebekah). These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, the brother of Abraham. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 22:2 Or “that”
  2. Genesis 22:8 Literally “God will see to it” or “God will see for himself”
  3. Genesis 22:12 Literally “a fearer”
  4. Genesis 22:14 Literally “will see”
  5. Genesis 22:14 Literally “which”
  6. Genesis 22:14 Literally “it/he shall be seen”

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”(A) So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together.(B) Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”(C) Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.(D) 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill[a] his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”(E) 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,”[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”[c]

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,(F) 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,(G) 18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”(H) 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba, and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

The Children of Nahor

20 Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.(I) 24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Footnotes

  1. 22.10 Or to slaughter
  2. 22.14 Or will see; Heb traditionally transliterated Jehovah Jireh
  3. 22.14 Or he shall be seen