Avraham's 10 Tests

(1) Hashem said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

(10) There was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to live there, for the famine was severe in the land.

(10) There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

(11) As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.

(12) If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live.

(13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.”

(14) When Avram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was.

(15) Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace.

(16) And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.

(17) But Hashem afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagues on account of Sarai, the wife of Avram. (18) Pharaoh sent for Avram and said, “What is this you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? (19) Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone!”

(20) And Pharaoh put men in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed.

(1) Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim

(2) made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar,

(3) all the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now the Dead Sea.

(4) Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

(5) In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh-kiriathaim,

(6) and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

(7) On their way back they came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and subdued all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.

(8) Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, went forth and engaged them in battle in the Valley of Siddim: (9) King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against those five.

(10) Now the Valley of Siddim was dotted with bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country. (11) [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way.

(12) They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sodom.

(13) A fugitive brought the news to Avram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, kinsman of Eshkol and Aner, these being Abram’s allies.

(14) When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

(15) At night, he and his servants deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

(16) He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.

(17) When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King.

(18) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.

(19) He blessed him, saying, “Blessed be Avram of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. (20) And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand.” And [Avram] gave him a tenth of everything.

(21) Then the king of Sodom said to Avram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.”

(22) But Avram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth:

(23) I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’

(24) For me, nothing but what my servants have used up; as for the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre—let them take their share.”

(1) Sarai, Avram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.

(2) And Sarai said to Avram, “Look, Hashem has kept me from bearing. Take my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her.” And Avram heeded Sarai’s request.

(3) So Sarai, Avram’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian—after Avram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years—and gave her to her husband, Avram, as a wife.

(24) Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin,

(1) Avraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was living in Gerar,

(2) Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Avimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

(9) Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Avraham playing.

(10) She said to Avraham, “Cast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Yitzchak.”

(11) The matter distressed Avraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his.

(12) But Hashem said to Avraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Yiztchak that offspring shall be continued for you.

(14) Early next morning Avraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheva.

(1) Some time afterward, God put Avraham to the test. He said to him, “Avraham,” and he answered, “Here I am.”

(2) And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”

(3) So early next morning, Avraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him.

(4) On the third day Avraham looked up and saw the place from afar.

(5) Then Avraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.”

(6) Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together.

(7) Then Isaac said to his father Avraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

(8) And Avraham said, “God will see to the sheep for His burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

(9) They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Avraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

(10) And Avraham picked up the knife to slay his son.

(11) Then an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven: “Avraham! Avraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”

(12) And he said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.”