Genesis 22
The Message
22 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!”
“Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.”
2 He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”
3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.
7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, “Father?”
“Yes, my son.”
“We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.
9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.
11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”
13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, “On the mountain of God, he sees to it.”
15-18 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: “I swear—God’s sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I’ll bless you—oh, how I’ll bless you! And I’ll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.
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20-23 After all this, Abraham got the news: “Your brother Nahor is a father! Milcah has given him children: Uz, his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (he was the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” (Bethuel was the father of Rebekah.) Milcah gave these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 His concubine, Reumah, gave him four more children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
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Genesis 22
New King James Version
Abraham’s Faith Confirmed(A)
22 Now it came to pass after these things that (B)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, (C)your only son Isaac, whom you (D)love, and go (E)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a (F)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the [a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will (G)come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and (H)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the [b]lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the (I)lamb for a (J)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and (K)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the (L)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, (M)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for (N)now I know that you fear God, since you have not (O)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, [c]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: (P)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will (Q)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants (R)as the stars of the heaven (S)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and (T)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 (U)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, (V)because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to (W)Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
The Family of Nahor
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed (X)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 (Y)Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father (Z)of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 And (AA)Bethuel begot [d]Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 22:5 Or young man
- Genesis 22:7 Or goat
- Genesis 22:14 Heb. YHWH Yireh
- Genesis 22:23 Rebecca, Rom. 9:10
Genesis 22
English Standard Version
The Sacrifice of Isaac
22 After these things (A)God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to (B)the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and (C)laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, (D)“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and (E)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter 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, (F)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for (G)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, (H)“The Lord will provide”;[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”[c]
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, (I)“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring (J)as the stars of heaven and (K)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess (L)the gate of his[d] enemies, 18 and (M)in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, (N)because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to (O)Beersheba. And Abraham lived at (P)Beersheba.
20 Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, (Q)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 (R)Uz his firstborn, (S)Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 ((T)Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 22:5 Or young man; also verse 12
- Genesis 22:14 Or will see
- Genesis 22:14 Or he will be seen
- Genesis 22:17 Or their
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
