THE TRIAL OF THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM.

And it came to pass after these things, that God did temptAbraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here Iam. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whomthou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer himthere for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I willtell thee of.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass,and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, andclave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went untothe place of which God had told him. Then on the third dayAbraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. AndAbraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; andI and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it uponIsaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, andthey went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham hisfather, and said, My father: and he, said, Here am I, my son. Andhe said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb fora burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will providehimself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of themtogether. And they came to the place which God had told him of;and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, andbound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. AndAbraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay hisson. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, andsaid, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Laynot thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him:for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast notwithheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted uphis eyes and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in athicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, andoffered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as itis to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaventhe second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith theLord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast notwithheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will blessthee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars ofheaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seedshall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall allthe nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed myvoice.—Geneszs xxii. 1-18.