March 4, 2012, First Reading

The Book of Genesis  22: 1-2, 9-13, 15-18

22:1 After these things occurred, God tested Abraham, and he said to him, “Abraham, Abraham.” And he answered, “Here I am.”
22:2 He said to him: “Take your only begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of vision. And there you shall offer him as a holocaust upon one of the mountains, which I will show to you.”
22:9 And they came to the place that God had shown to him. There he built an altar, and he set the wood in order upon it. And when he had bound his son Isaac, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.
22:10 And he reached out his hand and took hold of the sword, in order to sacrifice his son.
22:11 And behold, an Angel of the Lord called out from heaven, saying, “Abraham, Abraham.” And he answered, “Here I am.”
22:12 And he said to him, “Do not extend your hand over the boy, and do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, since you have not spared your only begotten son for my sake.”
22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw behind his back a ram among the thorns, caught by the horns, which he took and offered as a holocaust, instead of his son.
22:14 And he called the name of that place: ‘The Lord Sees.’ Thus, even to this day, it is said: ‘On the mountain, the Lord will see.’
22:15 Then the Angel of the Lord called out to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:
22:16 “By my own self, I have sworn, says the Lord. Because you have done this thing, and have not spared your only begotten son for my sake,
22:17 I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.
22:18 And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed my voice.”

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