8. Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." The two of them walked on together.
9. They reached the place God had told Abraham about. There Abraham built an altar. He arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac. He placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10. Then he reached out his hand. He took the knife to kill his son.
11. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven. He said, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," Abraham replied.
12. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you have respect for God. You have not held back from me your son, your only son."
13. Abraham looked up. There in a bush he saw a ram. It was caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram. He sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14. So Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. To this day people say, "It will be provided on the mountain of the Lord."
15. The angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven a second time.
16. He said, "I am taking an oath in my own name. I will bless you because of what you have done," announces the Lord. "You have not held back your son, your only son.
17. "So I will certainly bless you. I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. Your children will take over the cities of their enemies.