Gênesis 22

¹ God tested Abraham. He said to him: »Abraham!« Abraham replied: »Here I am.«

² »Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.«

³ Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took two of his servants and his son Isaac with him. He had cut the wood for the burnt offering. Then he set out for the place that God had told him about.

⁴ Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance.

⁵ He said to the servants: »Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship. Then we will come back to you.«

⁶ Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice. Abraham carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together,

⁷ Isaac spoke up: »Father!« He answered: »Yes, my son?« Isaac asked: »I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?«

⁸ Abraham answered: »God will provide one.« And the two of them walked on together.

⁹ They came to the place God had told him about. Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.

¹⁰ Then he picked up the knife to kill him.

¹¹ Jehovah’s angel shouted from heaven: »Abraham! Abraham!« »Here I am!« he answered.

¹² »Do not hurt the boy or harm him in any way!« The angel said. »Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son.«

¹³ Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son.

¹⁴ Abraham named that place »Jehovah Will Provide.« It is still said today: »It will be provided on the mountain of Jehovah.«

¹⁵ The angel of Jehovah called to Abraham from heaven a second time.

¹⁶ He said: »I am taking an oath on my own name, declares Jehovah, that because you have done this and have not refused to give me your son, your only son,

¹⁷ ‘»I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of their enemies’ cities.

¹⁸ ‘»All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. This is because you obeyed my command.’«

¹⁹ Abraham and Isaac went back to the servants who had come with him. They returned to Abraham’s home in Beer-sheba.

²⁰ Abraham’s brother Nahor had married Milcah, and Abraham was later told that they had eight sons.

²¹ Uz was their firstborn. Buz was next. Then there was Kemuel who became the father of Aram. Their other five sons were

²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These are the eight children Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴ His concubine, Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.