The Call of Abram

12 The Lord said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.^{(G) 5} He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem,^(H) at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.”^(I) So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh.^{(J) 9} Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.^{[a] 3} So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. ⁴ He slept with^[b] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!^[c] I put my slave in your arms,^[d] and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”^(A)

⁶ Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

⁷ The Angel of the Lord^(B) found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.”^{[e] 10} The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,^(C) and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:

¹³ So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees,^[h] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen^(E) the One who sees me?”^{[i] 14} That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”^[j] It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had.

Sarah Laughs

⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”^(A) Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years.^[a] Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.^{[b](B) 12} So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”^(C)

¹³ But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything impossible for the Lord?^(D) At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.

But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham^(A) and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² “Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love,^(B) go to the land of Moriah,^(C) and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

³ So Abraham got up early in the morning,^(D) saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day^(E) Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.^(F) In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife,^[a] and the two of them walked on together.

⁷ Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide^[b](G) the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac^[c] and placed him on the altar^(H) on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹ But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He replied, “Here I am.”

¹² Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.”^{(I) 13} Abraham looked up and saw a ram^[d] caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide,^[e] so today it is said: “It will be provided^[f] on the Lord’s mountain.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn,”^(J) this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,^{[g] 17} I will indeed bless you^(K) and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky^(L) and the sand on the seashore.^(M) Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.^{(N) 18} And all the nations of the earth will be blessed^[h] by your offspring^(O) because you have obeyed My command.”

¹⁹ Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

Rebekah’s Family

²⁰ Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor:^{(P) 21} Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ And Bethuel fathered Rebekah.^(Q) Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

True Relationships

⁴⁶ He^(A) was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him.^{(B) 47} Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”^[a]

⁴⁸ But He replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples,^(C) He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.”^(D)