The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Genesis
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Chapter 22
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After this, God would put Abraham to the test. So he called to him, Abraham, Abraham; and when he said, I am here, at thy command,
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God told him, Take thy only son, thy beloved son Isaac, with thee, to the land of Clear Vision,✻ and there offer him to me in burnt-sacrifice on a mountain which I will shew thee.
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Rising, therefore, at dawn, Abraham saddled his ass, bidding two of the men-servants and his son Isaac follow him; he cut the wood needed for the burnt-sacrifice, and then set out for the place of which God had spoken to him.
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It was two days later when he looked up and saw it, still far off;
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and now he said to his servants, Wait here with the ass, while I and my son make our way yonder; we will come back to you, when we have offered worship there.
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Then he took the wood for the sacrifice, and gave it to his son Isaac to carry; he himself carried the brazier and the knife. As they walked along together
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Isaac said to him, Father. What is it, my son? he asked. Why, said he, we have the fire here and the wood; where is the lamb we need for a victim?
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My son, said Abraham, God will see to it that there is a lamb to be sacrificed. So they went on together
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till they reached the place God had shewn him. And here he built an altar, and set the wood in order on it; then he bound his son Isaac and laid him down there on the altar, above the pile of wood.
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And he reached out, and took up the knife, to slay his son.
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But now, from heaven, an angel of the Lord called to him, Abraham, Abraham. And when he answered, Here am I, at thy command,
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the angel said, Do the lad no hurt, let him alone. I know now that thou fearest God; for my sake thou wast ready to give up thy only son.
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And Abraham, looking about him, saw behind him a ram caught by the horns in a thicket; this he took, and offered it as a burnt-sacrifice, instead of his son.
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So Abraham called that spot, The Lord’s Foresight; and the saying goes to this day, On the mountain top, the Lord will see to it.✻
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Once more the angel of the Lord called to Abraham out of heaven; and he said,
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This message the Lord has for thee: I have taken an oath by my own name to reward thee for this act of thine, when thou wast ready to give up thy only son for my sake.
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More and more will I bless thee, more and more will I give increase to thy posterity, till they are countless as the stars in heaven, or the sand by the sea shore; thy children shall storm the gates of their enemies;
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all the races of the world shall find a blessing through thy posterity, for this readiness of thine to do my bidding.
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Then Abraham went back to his servants, and took them with him to Bersabee; it was at Bersabee that Abraham made his dwelling.
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It was after this Abraham had news that his brother Nachor, too, had had sons by his wife Melcha.
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Hus was the name of his first-born, and the next brother was called Buz; then Camuel from whom the Syrians are sprung,
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and Cased and Azau, Pheldas too and Jedlaph,
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and then Bathuel, the father of Rebecca; all these eight sons were born to Nachor, Abraham’s brother, by his wife Melcha.
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He had, too, a concubine called Roma; she bore him Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.
