Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven.

They cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty.

God’s power protects you through your faith, and it keeps you safe until your salvation comes.

That salvation is ready to be given to you at the end of time.

This makes you very happy. But now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad.

These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold.

God said to Abraham, “I will change the name of Sarai, your wife. Her new name will be Sarah. I will bless her. I will give her a son, and you will be the father. She will be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will come from her.” Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, “Can a man have a child when he is 100 years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is 90?” Then Abraham said to God, “Please let Ishmael be the son you promised.” God said, “No. Sarah your wife will have a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will make my agreement with him. It will be an agreement that continues forever with all his descendants. You asked me about Ishmael, and I heard you. I will bless him. I will give him many descendants. And I will cause their numbers to grow very greatly. He will be the father of 12 great leaders. I will make him into a great nation. But I will make my agreement with Isaac. He is the son whom Sarah will have at this same time next year.”

It was by faith Abraham obeyed God’s call to go to another place that God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go. It was by faith that he lived in the country God promised to give him. He lived there like a visitor who did not belong. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had received that same promise from God. Abraham was waiting for the city that has real foundations—the city planned and built by God. He was too old to have children, and Sarah was not able to have children. It was by faith that Abraham was made able to become a father. Abraham trusted God to do what he had promised. This man was so old that he was almost dead. But from him came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. They are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore that cannot be counted.

After these things God tested Abraham’s faith. God said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your only son, Isaac, the son you love. Go to the land of Moriah. There kill him and offer him as a whole burnt offering. Do this on one of the mountains there. I will tell you which one.” Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. He cut the wood for the sacrifice. Then they went to the place God had told them to go. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship. Then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and gave it to his son to carry. Abraham took the knife and the fire. So Abraham and his son went on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.” Isaac said, “We have the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb we will burn as a sacrifice?” Abraham answered, “God will give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.”

So Abraham and his son went on together. They came to the place God had told him about. There, Abraham built an altar. He laid the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac. And he laid Isaac on the wood on the altar. Then Abraham took his knife and was about to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. The angel said, “Abraham! Abraham!” Abraham answered, “Yes.” The angel said, “Don’t kill your son or hurt him in any way. Now I can see that you respect God. I see that you have not kept your son, your only son, from me.” Then Abraham looked up and saw a male sheep. Its horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the sheep and killed it. He offered it as a whole burnt offering to God. Abraham’s son was saved.

So Abraham named that place The Lord Gives. Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be given.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time.  The angel said, “The Lord says, ‘You did not keep back your son, your only son, from me. Because you did this, I make you this promise by my own name: I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. And they will capture the cities of their enemies. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed. This is because you obeyed me.’” Then Abraham returned to his servants. They all traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham stayed there.