Genesis 22
Good News Translation
God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac
22 (A)Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, “Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Yes, here I am!”
2 (B)“Take your son,” God said, “your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then he said to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together, 7 Isaac spoke up, “Father!”
He answered, “Yes, my son?”
Isaac asked, “I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide one.” And the two of them walked on together.
9 (C)When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He answered, “Yes, here I am.”
12 “Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him,” he said. “Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.”
13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named that place “The Lord Provides.”[a] And even today people say, “On the Lord's mountain he provides.”[b]
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 (D)“I make a vow by my own name—the Lord is speaking—that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, 17 (E)I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. 18 (F)All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants—all because you obeyed my command.” 19 Abraham went back to his servants, and they went together to Beersheba, where Abraham settled.
The Descendants of Nahor
20 Some time later Abraham learned that Milcah had borne eight children to his brother Nahor: 21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, 23 Rebecca's father. Milcah bore these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 Reumah, Nahor's concubine, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 22:14 Provides; or Sees.
- Genesis 22:14 provides; or is seen.
Genesis 22
Expanded Bible
God Tests Abraham
22 After these things God tested ·Abraham’s faith [L Abraham]. God said to him, “Abraham!”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2 Then God said, “Take your ·only [or precious] son, Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah [2 Chr. 3:1; C the temple would later be built here]. Offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two ·servants [or young men] with him. After he cut the wood for the sacrifice, they went to the place God had told them to go. 4 On the third day Abraham ·looked up [L lifted his eyes] and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his ·servants [or young men], “Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the ·sacrifice [L whole burnt offering] and ·gave it to his son to carry [L placed it on his son], but he himself took the knife and the ·fire [or tinder]. So he and his son went on together.
7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!”
Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.”
Isaac said, “We have the ·fire [or tinder] and the wood, but where is the ·lamb [sheep] ·we will burn as a sacrifice [L for the whole burnt offering]?”
8 Abraham answered, “God will ·give us [provide; L see for] the ·lamb [sheep] for the ·sacrifice [whole burnt offering], my son.”
So Abraham and his son went on together 9 and came to the place God had told him about. Abraham built an altar there. He ·laid [arranged] the wood on it and then ·tied up [bound] his son Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar. 10 Then Abraham [L sent his hand and] took his knife and was about to ·kill [slaughter] his son.
11 But the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [16:7] called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “Yes.”
12 The angel said, “Don’t ·kill [L send out your hand against] your son or ·hurt [L do anything to] him in any way. Now I can see that you ·trust [L fear] God and that you have not ·kept [withheld] your son, your ·only [or precious] son, from me [Heb. 11:17–19; James 2:21–23].”
13 Then Abraham ·looked up [L lifted his eyes] and saw ·a [or another] ·male sheep [ram] caught in a ·bush [thicket] by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep offering it as a whole burnt offering to God, ·and his son was saved [L … in the place of his son]. 14 So Abraham named that place The Lord ·Provides [or Sees; C Hebrew: Yahweh Yireh]. Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be ·provided [or seen].”
15 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [16:7] called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “The Lord says, ‘Because you did not ·keep back [withhold] your son, your ·only [precious] son, from me, I ·make you this promise by my own name [L swear by myself]: 17 I will surely bless you and ·give you many descendants [L multiply your seed]. They will be as many as the stars in the ·sky [heavens] and the sand on the seashore, and they will ·capture [L possess] the ·cities [L gates] of their enemies. 18 Through your ·descendants [L seed] all the nations on the earth will be blessed, because you ·obeyed [listened to] me [12:1–3].’ ”
19 Then Abraham returned to his ·servants [young men]. They all traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham ·stayed there [L resided in Beersheba; 21:14].
20 After these things happened, someone told Abraham: “·Your brother Nahor and his wife Milcah have children now [L Milcah has born sons to Nahor your brother; 11:29]. 21 The ·first son [firstborn] is Uz, and ·the second [L his brother] is Buz. ·The third son is […and] Kemuel (the father of Aram). 22 Then there are Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah was the mother of these eight sons, and Nahor, Abraham’s brother, was the father. 24 Also Nahor had four other sons by his ·slave woman [concubine; C a secondary wife] Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah [C Nahor’s offspring may have been the ancestors of the Aramaean tribes in Syria].
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.