Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(A)

22 Now it came to pass after these things that ^(B)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take now your son, ^(C)your only son Isaac, whom you ^(D)love, and go ^(E)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(F)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ^(G)come back to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(H)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^[b]lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ^(I)lamb for a ^(J)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and ^(K)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the ^(L)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, ^(M)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ^(N)now I know that you fear God, since you have not ^(O)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So 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 the place, ^[c]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: ^(P)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will ^(Q)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ^(R)as the stars of the heaven ^(S)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(T)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ^18 (U)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ^(V)because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to ^(W)Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

²⁰ Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed ^(X)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (Y)Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father ^(Z)of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ And ^(AA)Bethuel begot ^[d]Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

Rahab Hides the Spies^(A)

2 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men ^(B)from ^[a]Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and ^(C)came to the house of a harlot named ^(D)Rahab, and ^[b]lodged there. ² And ^(E)it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”

³ So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”

^4 (F)Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶ (But ^(G)she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) ⁷ Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹ and said to the men: ^(H)“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that ^(I)the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^(J)are fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord ^(K)dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and ^(L)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you ^(M)utterly destroyed. ¹¹ And as soon as we ^(N)heard these things, ^(O)our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for ^(P)the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ¹² Now therefore, I beg you, ^(Q)swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to ^(R)my father’s house, and ^(S)give me ^[c]a true token, ¹³ and ^(T)spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

¹⁴ So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that ^(U)we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

¹⁵ Then she ^(V)let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”

¹⁷ So the men said to her: “We will be ^(W)blameless^[d] of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, ^18 (X)unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ^(Y)and unless you ^[e]bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. ¹⁹ So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be ^[f]guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, ^(Z)his ^[g]blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be ^[h]free from your oath which you made us swear.”

²¹ Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

²² They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. ²³ So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^(AA)the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”