The Call of Abram

¹Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

²I will make you into a great nation,and I will bless you;I will make your name great,so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless youand curse those who curse you;and all the families of the earthwill be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oakof Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹³Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

¹⁴So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.

¹⁶He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

¹⁷The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

The Case against Israel

¹Hear now what the LORD says:“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,and let the hills hear your voice.

²Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,you enduring foundations of the earth.For the LORD has a case against His people,and He will argue it against Israel:

³‘My people, what have I done to you?Testify against Me how I have wearied you!

⁴For I brought you up from the land of Egyptand redeemed you from the house of slavery.I sent Moses before you,as well as Aaron and Miriam.

⁵My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseledand what Balaam son of Beor answered.Remember your journey from Shittimto Gilgal,so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

⁶With what shall I come before the LORDwhen I bow before the God on high?Should I come to Him with burnt offerings,with year-old calves?

⁷Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,with ten thousand rivers of oil?Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good.And what does the LORD require of youbut to act justly, to love mercy,and to walk humbly with your God?

The Punishment of Israel

⁹The voice of the LORD calls out to the city(and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name):“Heed the rodand the One who ordained it.

¹⁰Can I forget any longer,O house of the wicked,the treasures of wickednessand the short ephah, which is accursed?

¹¹Can I excuse dishonest scalesor bags of false weights?

¹²For the wealthy of the cityare full of violence,and its residents speak lies;their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

¹³Therefore I am striking you severely,to ruin you because of your sins.

¹⁴You will eat but not be satisfied,and your hunger will remain with you.What you acquire, you will not preserve;and what you save, I will give to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow but not reap;you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

¹⁶You have kept the statutes of Omriand all the practices of Ahab’s house;you have followed their counsel.Therefore I will make you a desolation,and your inhabitants an object of contempt;you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

The Offering of Isaac

¹Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”“Here I am,” he answered.

²“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

³So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

⁵“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

⁷Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”“Here I am, my son,” he replied.“The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.

⁹When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.

¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The LORD Provides the Sacrifice

¹¹Just then the angelof the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”“Here I am,” he replied.

¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

¹³Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ramin a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

¹⁴And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

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

¹⁶saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendantslike the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.

¹⁸And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,because you have obeyed My voice.”

¹⁹Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

The Sons of Nahor

²⁰Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:

²¹Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”

²³And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.

²⁴Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Delight Yourself in the LORD

¹Do not fret over those who do evil;do not envy those who do wrong.

²For they wither quickly like grassand wilt like tender plants.

³Trust in the LORD and do good;dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

⁴Delight yourself in the LORD,and He will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the LORD;trust in Him, and He will do it.

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn,your justice like the noonday sun.

⁷Be still before the LORDand wait patiently for Him;do not fret when men prosper in their ways,when they carry out wicked schemes.

⁸Refrain from anger and abandon wrath;do not fret—it can only bring harm.

⁹For the evildoers will be cut off,but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

¹⁰Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;though you look for them, they will not be found.

¹¹But the meek will inherit the landand delight in abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked scheme against the righteousand gnash their teeth at them,

¹³but the Lord laughs,seeing that their day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn the swordand bent the bowto bring down the poor and needy,to slay those whose ways are upright.

¹⁵But their swords will pierce their own hearts,and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteousthan the abundance of many who are wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken,but the LORD upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The LORD knows the days of the blameless,and their inheritance will last forever.

¹⁹In the time of evil they will not be ashamed,and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.

²⁰But the wicked and enemies of the LORDwill perish like the glory of the fields.They will vanish;like smoke they will fade away.

²¹The wicked borrow and do not repay,but the righteous are gracious and giving.

²²Surely those He blesses will inherit the land,but the cursed will be destroyed.

²³The steps of a man are ordered by the LORDwho takes delight in his journey.

²⁴Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,for the LORD is holding his hand.

²⁵I once was young and now am old,yet never have I seen the righteous abandonedor their children begging for bread.

²⁶They are ever generous and quick to lend,and their children are a blessing.

²⁷Turn away from evil and do good,so that you will abide forever.

²⁸For the LORD loves justiceand will not forsake His saints.They are preserved forever,but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹The righteous will inherit the landand dwell in it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,and his tongue speaks justice.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart;his steps do not falter.

³²Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous,and seek to slay them,

³³the LORD will not leave them in their poweror let them be condemned under judgment.

³⁴Wait for the LORD and keep His way,and He will raise you up to inherit the land.When the wicked are cut off,you will see it.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, ruthless manflourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

³⁶yet he passed away and was no more;though I searched, he could not be found.

³⁷Consider the blameless and observe the upright,for posterity awaits the man of peace.

³⁸But the transgressors will all be destroyed;the future of the wicked will be cut off.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;He is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰The LORD helps and delivers them;He rescues and saves them from the wicked,because they take refuge in Him.