Abraham Commanded to Offer Isaac

221 And it came to pass after these things, that God tried Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! and he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son], whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and there offer him up for a burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up and went to the place that God had told him of. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and the knife, and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father! And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the sheep for a burnt-offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself with the sheep for a burnt-offering. And they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built the altar there, and piled the wood; and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son.

11 And the Angel of Jehovah called to him from the heavens, and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Stretch not out thy hand against the lad, neither do anything to him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son], from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and 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 that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said at the present day, On the mount of Jehovah will be provided.

15 And the Angel of Jehovah called to Abraham from the heavens a second time, 16 and said, By myself I swear, saith Jehovah, that, because thou hast done this, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son], 17 I will richly bless thee, and greatly multiply thy seed, as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because thou hast hearkened to my voice. 19 And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also has borne sons to thy brother Nahor: 21 Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 (And Bethuel begot Rebecca.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 And his concubine, named Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maacah.

Abraham Buys a Burial Ground for Sarah

231 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: [these were] the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, that I may bury my dead from before me. 5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead. 7 And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, 8 and spoke to them, saying, If it be your will that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is at the end of his field; for the full money let him give it to me amongst you for a possession of a sepulchre. 10 And Ephron was dwelling among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, [even] of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11 No, my lord: hear me. The field give I thee; and the cave that is in it, to thee I give it; before the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. 12 And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land; 13 and he spoke to Ephron, in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only thou wouldst listen to me, I give the money for the field: take [it] of me, and I will bury my dead there. 14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 My lord, hearken to me. A field of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16 And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the money that he had named in the ears of the sons of Heth—four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant. 17 So the field of Ephron, which was at Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its borders round about, 18 were assured to Abraham for a possession before the eyes 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 at Machpelah, opposite to Mamre: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20 And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.

A Wife Obtained for Isaac

241 And Abraham was old, [and] advanced in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant, the eldest of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put thy hand, I pray thee, under my thigh, 3 and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou take not a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am dwelling; 4 but thou shalt go to my land and to my kindred, 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, then, bring thy son again in any case to the land from which thou hast removed? 6 And Abraham said to him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. 7 Jehovah the God of the heavens, who took me out of my father's house, and out of the land of my nativity, and who has spoken to me, and who has sworn to me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land—he will send his angel before thee, that thou mayest take a wife for my son thence. 8 And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be quit of this my oath: only, bring not my son thither again. 9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore unto him concerning that matter.

10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; now all the treasure of his master was under his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening, when the women came out to draw [water]. 12 And he said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, meet me, I pray thee, [with thy blessing] this day, and deal kindly with my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I stand [here] by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. 14 And let it come to pass, [that] the maiden to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and who will say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, be she whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and hereby I shall know that thou hast dealt kindly with my master. 15 And it came to pass before he had ended speaking, that behold, Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother; and [she had] her pitcher upon her shoulder. 16 And the maiden was very fair in countenance; a virgin, and no man had known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher. 18 And she said, Drink, my lord! And she hasted and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink. 19 And when she had given him enough to drink, she said, I will draw [water] for thy camels also, until they have drunk enough. 20 And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw [water]; and she drew for all his camels. 21 And the man was astonished at her, remaining silent, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 And it came to pass when the camels had drunk enough, that the man took a gold ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten [shekels] weight of gold, 23 and said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room [in] thy father's house for us to lodge? 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said to him, There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge. 26 And the man stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah, 27 and said, Blessed be Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not withdrawn his loving-kindness and his faithfulness from my master; I being in the way, Jehovah has led me to the house of my master's brethren. 28 And the maiden ran and told these things to her mother's house.

29 And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, to the well. 30 And it came to pass when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's hand, and when he heard the words of Rebecca his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man to me—that he came to the man, and behold, he was standing by the camels, by the well. 31 And he said, Come in, blessed of Jehovah! why standest thou outside? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. 32 And the man came into the house; and he ungirded the camels, and gave the camels straw and provender, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 And there was set [meat] before him to eat; but he said, I will not eat until I have made known my business. And he said, Speak on. 34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant. 35 And Jehovah has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him sheep and cattle, and silver and gold, and bondmen and bondwomen, and camels and asses. 36 And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master after she had grown old; and unto him has he given all that he has. 37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I am dwelling; 38 but thou shalt by all means go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me? 40 And he said to me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way, that thou mayest take a wife for my son of my family, and out of my father's house. 41 Then shalt thou be quit of my oath, when thou shalt have come to my family. And if they give thee not [one], thou shalt be quit of my oath. 42 And I came this day to the well, and said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper my way on which I go, 43 behold, I stand by the well of water, and let it come to pass that the damsel who cometh forth to draw [water], and to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher to drink, 44 and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels—that she should be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my master's son. 45 Before I ended speaking in my heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and went down to the well, and drew [water]; and I said to her, Give me, I pray thee, to drink. 46 And she hasted and let down her pitcher from her [shoulder], and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. And I drank; and she gave the camels drink also. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him. And I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. 48 And I stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah; and I blessed Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has led me the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son. 49 And now, if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will turn to the right hand or to the left. 50 And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from Jehovah: we cannot speak to thee bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebecca is before thee: take [her], and go away; and let her be wife of thy master's son, as Jehovah has said. 52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth before Jehovah. 53 And the servant brought forth silver articles, and gold articles, and clothing, and he gave [them] to Rebecca; and he gave to her brother, and to her mother, precious things.

54 And they ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and lodged. And they rose up in the morning; and he said, Send me away to my master. 55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the maiden abide with us [some] days, or [say] ten; after that she shall go. 56 And he said to them, Do not hinder me, seeing Jehovah has prospered my way: send me away, and I will go to my master. 57 And they said, Let us call the maiden and inquire at her mouth. 58 And they called Rebecca and said to her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59 And they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebecca, and said to her, Thou art our sister; mayest thou become thousands of tens of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gate of their enemies! 61 And Rebecca arose, and her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebecca, and went away.

62 And Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi; for he was dwelling in the south country. 63 And Isaac had gone out to meditate in the fields toward the beginning of evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming. 64 And Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, and she sprang off the camel. 65 And she had said to the servant, Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us? And the servant said, That is my master! Then she took the veil, and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 67 And Isaac led her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after [the death of] his mother.