Genesis 22:1–24:67
22 Now it came to pass after these things that aGod tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, byour only son Isaac, whom you clove, and go dto the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a eburnt 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 1lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will fcome back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and glaid 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 2lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the hlamb for a iburnt 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 jlaid 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 kAngel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, l“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for mnow I know that you fear God, since you have not nwithheld 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, 3The-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: o“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 pbless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants qas the stars of the heaven rand as the sand which is on the seashore; and syour descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 tIn your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ubecause you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to vBeersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed wMilcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 xHuz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father yof Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 And zBethuel begot 4Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in aKirjath Arba (that is, bHebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of cHeth, saying, 4 d“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. eGive me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord: You are fa 1mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and 2meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of gMachpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who hentered at the gate of his city, saying, 11 i“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; 13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred jshekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” 16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham kweighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So lthe field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that is in it mwere deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
24 Now Abraham awas old, well advanced in age; and the Lord bhad blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said cto the oldest servant of his house, who druled over all that he had, “Please, eput your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you fswear 1by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that gyou will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 hbut you shall go ito my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6 But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who jtook me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, k‘To your 2descendants I give this land,’ lHe will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then myou will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, nfor all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to othe city of Nahor. 11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time pwhen women go out to draw water. 12 Then he qsaid, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please rgive me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here sI stand by the well of water, and tthe daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And uby this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 And it happened, vbefore he had finished speaking, that behold, wRebekah, 3who was born to Bethuel, son of xMilcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman ywas very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18 zSo she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether athe Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden bnose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us 4to lodge?”
24 So she said to him, c“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”
26 Then the man dbowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27 And he said, e“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken fHis mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord gled me to the house of my master’s brethren.” 28 So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was hLaban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30 So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his …