22 S Genesis 21:19
19 Then God o
pened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and
filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He l ived in the desert and became
an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife
for him from Egypt.
The Treaty at Beersheba
22 At that time Abime l ek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to
Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here be
fore God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descen
dants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the
same kindness I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abim
elek’s servants had seized. 26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done
this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and
the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the
flock, 29 and Abimelek a
sked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven
ewe l ambs you have set apart by themselves?”
30 He replied, “Accept t hese seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I
dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba, a because the two men s wore an oath
there.
32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the
commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham
planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the
Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines
for a long time.
Abraham Tested
22
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love — Isaac —
and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him t here as a b
urnt offering on a
mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took
with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood
for the burnt offering, he set out for the p
lace God had told him a
bout. 4 On
the third day Abraham looked up and saw the p
lace in the distance. 5 He said
to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over t here.
We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the b
urnt offering and p
laced it on his son
Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went
on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” I saac said, “but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the b
urnt of
fering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an
altar there and arranged the wood on it. He b
ound his son I saac and laid him
on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the
knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heav
en, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now
I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son,
your only son.”
a 31
Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath.