Now
when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and
said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
"And I will
establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you
exceedingly."
And Abram fell on
his face, and God talked with him, saying,
"As for Me, behold,
My covenant is with you, And you shall be the father of a multitude of
nations.
"No longer shall
your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will
make you the father of a multitude of nations.
"And I will make you
exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall
come forth from you.
"And I will
establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you
throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to
you and to your descendants after you.
"And I will give to
you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be
their God."
Now it came about after these
things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he
said, "Here I am."
And He said, "Take
now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land
of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I will tell you."
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.
On the third day
Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
And Abraham said to
his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go
yonder; and we will worship and return to you."
And Abraham took the
wood of the burnt offering and 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.
And 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
lamb for the burnt offering?"
And Abraham said,
"God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
So the two of them walked on together.
Then they came to
the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there,
and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the
altar on top of the wood.
And Abraham
stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the
LORD called to him from heaven, and said, " Abraham, Abraham! "And he
said," Here I am. "
And he said, "Do not
stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I
know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only
son, from Me."
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.
And Abraham called
the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this
day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."
Then the angel of
the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
and said, "By Myself
I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and
have not withheld your son, your only son,
indeed I will
greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars
of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed
shall possess the gate of their enemies.
"And in your seed
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed
My voice."