Study Desk

Now it came about at that time that ^(C1)Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "^(C2)God is with you in all that you do;

so now, ^(C1)swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided."

Abraham said, "I swear it."

But Abraham ^(F1)complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech ^(C1)had seized.

And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it ^(F1)until today."

So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ^(C1)the two of them made a covenant.

But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?"

He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a ^(C1)witness for me, that I dug this well."

Therefore he called that place ^(F1)(C1)Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath.

So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there ^(C1)he called on the name of the LORD, the ^(C2)Everlasting God.

And Abraham resided ^(C1)in the land of the Philistines for many days.

Now it came about after these things, that ^(C1)God tested Abraham, and said to him, "^(C2)Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Then He said, "Take now ^(C1)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(C2)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(C3)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."

And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and ^(C1)laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(C1)lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham said, "God will ^(F1)provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

Then they came to ^(C1)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(C2)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(C3)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to ^(F1)slaughter his son.

But ^(C1)the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

He said, "Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now ^(C1)I know that you ^(F1)fear God, since you have not withheld ^(C2)your son, your only son, from Me."

Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son.

And Abraham named that place ^(F1)The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "On the mountain of the LORD ^(C1)it will ^(F2)be provided."

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

and said, "^(C1)By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(C1)multiply your ^(F1)seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(C2)the sand, which is on the seashore; and ^(C3)your ^(F1)seed shall possess the gate of ^(F2)their enemies.

"And ^(C1)in your ^(F1)seed all the nations of the earth shall ^(F2)be blessed, because you have ^(C2)obeyed My voice."

^(C1)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

Now it came about after these things, that Abraham was told, saying, "Behold, ^(C1)Milcah ^(F1)also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel"—

and it was Bethuel who fathered ^(C1)Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

His concubine, whose name was Reumah, ^(F1)also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Now ^(F1)Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.

Sarah died in ^(C1)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham ^(F1)came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the ^(C1)sons of Heth, saying,

"I am ^(C1)a stranger and a foreign resident among you; ^(C2)give me ^(F1)a ^(C3)burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

"Hear us, my lord: you are a ^(F1)(C1)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead."

So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.

And he spoke with them, saying, "If ^(F1)you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with ^(C1)Ephron the son of Zohar for me,

that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in ^(F1)your presence for ^(F2)a burial site."

Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham ^(F1)so that the sons of Heth heard, ^(C1)that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying,

"No, my lord, listen to me; ^(C1)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."

And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.

But he spoke to Ephron ^(F1)so that the people of the land heard, saying, "If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there."

Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

"My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth ^(F1)four hundred ^(C1)shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? So bury your dead."

Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(C1)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the ^(F1)presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.

So ^(C1)Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were ^(F1)within all the confines of its border, ^(F2)were deeded over

to Abraham as a possession ^(C1)in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city.

After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.

So the field and the cave that was in it ^(F1)were ^(C1)deeded over to Abraham for ^(F2)a burial site by the sons of Heth.

Now ^(C1)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had ^(C2)blessed Abraham in every way.

Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household who was in ^(C1)charge of all that he owned, "^(C2)Please place your hand under my thigh,

and I will make you swear by the LORD, ^(C1)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(C2)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(C3)the Canaanites, among whom I live;

but you will go to ^(C1)my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"

Then Abraham said to him, "^(C1)Beware that you do not take my son back there!

"^(C1)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 who swore to me, saying, '^(C2)To your ^(F1)descendants I will give this land'—He will send ^(C3)His angel ahead of you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.

"But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will ^(C1)be free of this oath of mine; ^(C2)only do not take my son back there."

So the servant ^(C1)placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham, and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and went out with a variety of ^(C1)good things of his master's in his hand; so he set out and went to ^(F1)Mesopotamia, to ^(C2)the city of Nahor.

He made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^(C1)the well of water ^(F1)when it was evening, ^(C2)the time when women go out to draw water.

And he said, "^(C1)LORD, God of my master Abraham, please ^(F1)(C2)grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

"Behold, ^(C1)I am standing by the ^(F1)spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

now may it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and ^(F1)who answers, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also'—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master."

And it came about, ^(C1)before he had finished speaking, that behold, ^(C2)Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(C3)Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

The young woman was ^(C1)very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ^(F1)had relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.

Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "^(C1)Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

And ^(C1)she said, "Drink, my lord"; then she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^(C1)she said, "I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking."

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

^(C1)Meanwhile, the man was taking a close look at her ^(F1)in silence, to find out whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^(C1)gold ring weighing a ^(F1)half-shekel, and two bracelets for her ^(F2)wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,

and he said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to stay overnight at your father's house?"

She said to him, "^(C1)I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor."

Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to stay overnight."

Then the man ^(C1)bowed low and worshiped the LORD.

And he said, "^(C1)Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned ^(C2)His kindness and His trustworthiness toward my master; as for me, ^(C3)the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."