Genesis 21:22-34; Genesis 22; Genesis 23; Genesis 24:1-27

22 At that time Abim'elech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do;

23 now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned."

24 And Abraham said, "I will swear."

25 When Abraham complained to Abim'elech about a well of water which Abim'elech's servants had seized,

26 Abim'elech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today."

27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abim'elech, and the two men made a covenant.

28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.

29 And Abim'elech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?"

30 He said, "These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well."

31 Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there both of them swore an oath.

32 So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. Then Abim'elech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

1 After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."

2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.

5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the ass; 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 in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

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

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

10 Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."

12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing 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 a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

16 and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

17 I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies,

18 and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."

19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20 Now after these things it was told Abraham, "Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemu'el the father of Aram,

22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethu'el."

23 Bethu'el became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Ma'acah.

1 Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2 And Sarah died at Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites,

4 "I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

5 The Hittites answered Abraham,

6 "Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our sepulchres; none of us will withhold from you his sepulchre, or hinder you from burying your dead."

7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.

8 And he said to them, "If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 that he may give me the cave of Mach-pe'lah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying place."

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,

11 "No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead."

12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.

13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, "But if you will, hear me; I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there."

14 Ephron answered Abraham

15 "My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead."

16 Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So the field of Ephron in Mach-pe'lah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave which was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over

18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pe'lah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan

20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as a possession for a burying place by the Hittites.

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,

3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,

4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

5 The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"

6 Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there.

7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there."

9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose, and went to Mesopota'mia, to the city of Nahor.

11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.

12 And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, grant me success today, I pray thee, and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

14 Let the maiden to whom I shall say, 'Pray let down your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels' --let her be the one whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. By this I shall know that thou hast shown steadfast love to my master."

15 Before he had done speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethu'el the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar upon her shoulder.

16 The maiden was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, and filled her jar, and came up.

17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Pray give me a little water to drink from your jar."

18 She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly let down her jar upon her hand, and gave him a drink.

19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw for your camels also, until they have done drinking."

20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.

22 When the camels had done drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels,

23 and said, "Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?"

24 She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethu'el the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

25 She added, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."

26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD,

27 and said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen."