After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Have no fear, Abram: I will keep you safe, and great will be your reward.

And he said, Take a young cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon. All these he took, cutting them in two and putting one half opposite the other, but not cutting the birds in two.

For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Now after these things, God put Abraham to the test, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said to him, Take your son, your dearly loved only son Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and give him as a burned offering on one of the mountains of which I will give you knowledge. read more. And Abraham got up early in the morning, and made ready his ass, and took with him two of his young men and Isaac, his son, and after the wood for the burned offering had been cut, he went on his way to the place of which God had given him word. And on the third day, Abraham, lifting up his eyes, saw the place a long way off. Then he said to his young men, Keep here with the ass; and I and the boy will go on and give worship and come back again to you. And Abraham put the wood for the burned offering on his son's back, and he himself took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them went on together. Then Isaac said to Abraham, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, We have wood and fire here, but where is the lamb for the burned offering? And Abraham said, God himself will give the lamb for the burned offering: so they went on together. And they came to the place of which God had given him knowledge; and there Abraham made the altar and put the wood in place on it, and having made tight the bands round Isaac his son, he put him on the wood on the altar. And stretching out his hand, Abraham took the knife to put his son to death. But the voice of the angel of the Lord came from heaven, saying, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Let not your hand be stretched out against the boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son, your only son, from me. And lifting up his eyes, Abraham saw a sheep fixed by its horns in the brushwood: and Abraham took the sheep and made a burned offering of it in place of his son. And Abraham gave that place the name Yahweh-yireh: as it is said to this day, In the mountain the Lord is seen.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.