she had borne unto Abraham, mocking.1 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, "Cast out this handmaid and her son for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with

my son, even with Isaac." And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. And God said unto Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed."

66

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, "Let me not look upon the death of the child." And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make him a great nation." And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

1. Literally, playing.

X

THE SUPREME TEST OF ABRAHAM

(Genesis xxii: 1-18)

And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, " Abraham:" and he said, "Here am I." And he said, "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burntoffering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burntoffering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, "My father:" and he said, "Here am I, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for the burnt-offering?” And Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son:" so they went both of them together.

And they came to the place God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of Jehovah

And

called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham:" and he said, "Here am I." And he said, "Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh:1 as it is to this day, "In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided." And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, "By myself have I sworn," saith Jehovah, "because thou hast done this thing, and hast not witheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

XI

THE WOOING AND WINNING OF REBEKAH

(Genesis xxiv: 1-67)

And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, "Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:2 and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou

1. "Jehovah will provide."

2. A posture prescribed in the taking of a solemn oath.

1

wilt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” And the servant said unto him, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?" And Abraham said unto him, "Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. Jehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spake unto me, and who sware unto me, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give this land; he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.' And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again." And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.

2

And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having all goodly things of his master's in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. And he said, "O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water: and let it come to pass, that the damsel to

1. See note on page 35.

2. The country between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the northwest of Babylon.

whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink;' and she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also:' let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master." And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon. And she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher." And she said, "Drink, my lord:" and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking." And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. And the man looked steadfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel1 weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, "Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor." She said moreover unto him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in." And the man bowed his head, and worshipped

1. An ancient weight and money unit used by the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, and the Hebrews. The ordinary Hebrew shekel of gold would be equivalent to about ten dollars. As a coin the shekel did not come into use until 140 B. C.