Genesis 22

The LORD tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice

1Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him.#He 11.17-19.

Abraham answered, “Here I am, LORD.”

2The LORD said, “Go and get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar.”#2 Ch 3.1. 3So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

4Three days later Abraham looked into the distance and saw the place. 5He told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, while my son and I go over there to worship. We will come back.”

6Abraham put the wood on Isaac's shoulder, but he carried the hot coals and the knife. As the two of them walked along, 7-8Isaac said, “Father, we have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the lamb.”

The two of them walked on, and 9when they reached the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. Next, he tied up his son and put him on the wood.#Jas 2.21. 10He then took the knife and got ready to kill his son. 11But the LORD's angel shouted from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he answered.

12“Don't 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.”

13Abraham 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.

14Abraham named that place “The LORD will Provide”. And even now people say, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”#22.14 The LORD will Provide…it will be provided: Or “The LORD will be Seen…the LORD will be seen” or “It (a ram) will be Seen…it (a ram) will be seen”.

15The LORD's angel called out from heaven a second time:

16You were willing to offer the LORD your only son, and so he makes you this solemn promise,#He 6.13,14. 17“I will bless you and give you such a large family, that some day your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live.#He 11.12. 18You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth.”#Ac 3.25.

19Abraham and Isaac went back to the servants who had come with him, and they returned to Abraham's home in Beersheba.

The children of Nahor

20-23Abraham's brother Nahor had married Milcah, and Abraham was later told that they had eight sons. Uz was their firstborn; Buz was next, and then there was Kemuel who became the father of Aram; their other five sons were: Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who became the father of Rebekah. 24Nahor also had another wife.#22.24 another wife: This translates a Hebrew word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife. Her name was Reumah, and she had four sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 22

The Offering of Isaac

(John 3:1–21)

1Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

2“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

3So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

7Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”

“Here I am, my son,” he replied.

“The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “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 walked on together.

9When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The Lord Provides the Sacrifice

11Just then the angel #22:11 Or Angel; also in verses 12 and 15 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 or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.#22:12 Or from Me”

13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram #22:13 Most MT manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts, SP, LXX, and Syriac saw one ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.#22:14 Hebrew YHWH Yireh So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, 17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants #22:17 Cited in Hebrews 6:14 like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,#22:18 Cited in Acts 3:25 because you have obeyed My voice.”

19Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

The Sons of Nahor

20Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”

23And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 24Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Choose your language

Genesis 22

Genesis 22