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Abraham’s Faith Confirmed

¹Now it came to pass after these things that ⚓God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
²Then He said, “Take now your son, ⚓your only son Isaac, whom you ⚓love, and go ⚓to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ⚓burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
³So 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. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ⚓come back to you.”
⁶So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ⚓laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷But 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 lamb for a burnt offering?”
⁸And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ⚓lamb for a ⚓burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
⁹Then 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 ⚓laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
¹¹But the ⚓Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
¹²And He said, ⚓“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ⚓now I know that you fear God, since you have not ⚓withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
¹³Then 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. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
¹⁵Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶and said: ⚓“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷blessing I will ⚓bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ⚓as the stars of the heaven ⚓and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ⚓your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸⚓In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⚓because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to ⚓Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

²⁰Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed ⚓Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹⚓Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father ⚓of Aram, ²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³And ⚓Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

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Abraham Tested

¹Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
²Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
³Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
⁹When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
¹³Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram⚓ caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
¹⁵The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸and through your offspring⚓ all nations on earth will be blessed,⚓ because you have obeyed me.”
¹⁹Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Nahor’s Sons

²⁰Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²²Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.