¹³ For ^(A)when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He ^(B)swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, “^(C)I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, ^(D)having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. ^16 (E)For men swear by ^[a]one greater than themselves, and with them ^(F)an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

Abram Promised a Son

15 After these things ^(A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² Abram said, “O Lord ^[b]God, what will You give me, since I ^[c]am childless, and the ^[d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “^[e]Since You have given no ^[f]offspring to me, ^[g]one ^(E)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; ^(F)but one who will come forth from your own ^[h]body, he shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and ^(G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “^(H)So shall your ^[i]descendants be.” ^6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(K)give you this land to ^[j]possess it.” ⁸ He said, “O Lord ^[k]God, ^(L)how may I know that I will ^[l]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[m]Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[n]brought all these to Him and ^(M)cut them ^[o]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(N)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[p]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(P)your ^[q]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[r]where ^(Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed ^(R)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(S)with ^[s]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(U)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which ^(W)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (Z)the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite ²⁰ and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim ²¹ and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it came about after these things, that ^(A)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “^(B)Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take now ^(C)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(D)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(E)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will 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 wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(F)laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(G)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will ^[a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to ^(H)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(I)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(J)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But ^(K)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 stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now ^(L)I know that you ^[b]fear God, since you have not withheld ^(M)your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place ^[c]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord ^(N)it will ^[d]be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “^(O)By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(P)multiply your ^[e]seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(Q)the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(R)your ^[f]seed shall possess the gate of ^[g]their enemies. ^18 (S)In your ^[h]seed all the nations of the earth shall ^[i]be blessed, because you have ^(T)obeyed My voice.” ^19 (U)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

²⁰ Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, ^(V)Milcah ^[j]also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram ²² and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel ^[k]became the father of ^(W)Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, ^[l]also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.