And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised. And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me." And she said, "Who would announce to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son to Abraham in his old age."

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking. Then she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac." And the matter displeased Abraham very much on account of his son. Then God said to Abraham, "Do not be displeased on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. Listen to everything that Sarah said to you, for through Isaac your offspring will be named. And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring." Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba. And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes. And she went and she sat a good distance away, for she said, "Let me not see the child’s death." So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the cry of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, "What is the matter Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry of the boy from where he is. Get up, take up the boy and take him with your 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 skin with water and gave a drink to the boy. And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became an expert with a bow. And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

And it happened that at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you, in all that you do. So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall pledge to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien." And Abraham said, "I swear." Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized. And Abimelech said, "I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard of it except for today." And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them made a covenant. Then Abraham set off seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe-lambs that you have set off by themselves?" And he said, "You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand as proof on my behalf that I dug this well." Therefore that place is called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. And they made a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech, and Phicol his army commander stood and returned to the land of the Philistines. And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting God. And Abraham dwelled as an alien in the land of the Philistines many days.

And it happened that after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where I will tell you." And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance. And Abraham said to his servants, "You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together. And Isaac said to Abraham his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together.

And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are one who fears God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place "Yahweh will provide," for which reason it is said today, "on the mountain of Yahweh it shall be provided." And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven. And he said, "I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice." And Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

And it happened that after these things, it was told to Abraham, "Look, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." (Now, Bethuel fathered Rebekah). These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, the brother of Abraham. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

And Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiriath Arba; that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from his dead, and he spoke to the Hittites and said, "I am a stranger and an alien among you; give to me my own burial site among you so that I may bury my dead from before me." And the Hittites answered Abraham and said to him, "Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us will withhold his burial site from you for burying your dead." And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites. And he spoke with them, saying, "If you are willing that I bury my dead from before me, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may sell to me the cave of Machpelah which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field. At full value let him sell it to me in your midst as a burial site." Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all who were entering the gate of his city, and said, "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which is in it, I also give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead." And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If only you will hear me—I give the price of the field. Take it from me that I may bury my dead there." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, "My lord, hear me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? Bury your dead." Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver at the merchants’ current rate. So the field of Ephron which was in the Machpelah, which was near Mamre—the field and the cave which was in it, with all the trees that were in the field, which were within all its surrounding boundaries—passed to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all who were entering the gate of his city. And thus afterward Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah near Mamre; that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And the field and the cave which was in it passed to Abraham as a burial site from the Hittites.

In those days there was again a large crowd, and they did not have anything they could eat. Summoning the disciples, he said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes they will give out on the way, and some of them have come from far away." And his disciples answered him, "Where is anyone able to feed these people with bread here in the desert?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" So they said, "Seven." And he commanded the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, and taking the seven loaves, after he had given thanks he broke them and began giving them to his disciples so that they could set them before them. And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish, and after giving thanks for them, he said to set these before them also. And they ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces that were left, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

And the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding from him a sign from heaven in order to test him. And sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation!" And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

And they had forgotten to take bread, and except for one loaf, they did not have any with them in the boat. And he ordered them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod!" And they began to discuss with one another that they had no bread. And knowing this, he said to them, "Why are you discussing that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? Although you have eyes, do you not see? And although you have ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "When I also broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man and implored him that he would touch him. And he took hold of the blind man’s hand and led him outside the village, and after spitting in his eyes, he placed his hands on him and asked him, "Do you see anything?" And looking up he said, "I see people, for I see them like trees walking around." Then he placed his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes and was cured, and could see everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even go into the village."

And Jesus and his disciples went out to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?" And they told him, saying, "John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others that you are one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to him, "You are the Christ!" And he warned them that they should tell no one about him.

And he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be killed, and after three days to rise. And he was speaking openly about the subject, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan, because you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of people!"

And summoning the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me and of the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a person give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."