And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and they two made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, "What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?" And he said, "These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well." Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them. So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol, the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. {41} THE TESTING OF ABRAHAM. _God Provides the Sacrifice_. And it came to pass after these things, that God proved Abraham, and said to 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 burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, 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 to 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 spoke 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 a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "God will himself provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son": so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in {42} 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 the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham." And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "Lay not thine 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."