In this chapter, God tests Abraham by demanding he sacrifice his son Isaac. As Abraham is about to comply, God stops him at the last moment. God declares that he is pleased by Abraham's obedience. The chapter ends with some news about Abraham's relatives' children.

The text below is adapted from the ASV.

1 Now, after these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham.

And he said, Here I am.

2 And he said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Iaac, and get to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you 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 split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place which God had told him. 4 On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.

5 And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the ass, and I and the lad will go over there, and we will worship, and return to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and the two of them went together.

7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father.

And he said, Here I am, my son.

And he said, Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So the two of them went together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. 11 And the angel of Yahweh called to him from the sky, and said, Abraham, Abraham!

And he said, Here I am.

12 And he said, Lay not your hand on the lad, nor do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Yireh, as it is said to this day, On the mount of Yahweh it shall be provided.

15 And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from the sky, 16 and said, By myself I have sworn, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of all his enemies, 18 and by your seed all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer Sheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beer Sheba.

20 Now, after these things, it was told to Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she has also borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, 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 Rebekah: these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

(22:2) "your only son". But Abraham has another son: Ishmael.

(22:2) "burnt offering". In the Hebrew Bible, a burnt offering was one wholly burnt as a sacrifice. Other animal offerings were only partially burnt, which the remaining portions eaten by human beings.

(22:12) "from me". It appears that in some parts of the Hebrew Bible, earlier references to God himself are replaced here and there with references to an "angel of God". This is accomplished easily enough by adding the word "angel" to the Hebrew text, but here and there the older form of the text slips through. In this case, we see this as the "angel of God" refers to God as "me". See Meier.

(22:14) "Yahweh Yireh". Meaning, "Yahweh will see" or "Yahweh will provide" (as in ASV notes).

(22:14) "it shall be provided". Or, "he shall be seen" (ASV notes).

(22:18) "shall bless themselves". That is, Abraham's offspring will be used in blessing formulae, along the lines of, "May you be blessed as Abraham's offspring have been blessed".

ASV. The American Standard Version of the Bible, as printed in 1901 by Thomas Nelson and Sons.

Meier, S. A. "Angel of Yahweh", in Dictionary of Deities and Demons (1999), Second Edition, Extensively Revised.