burnt offering." At last they came to the spot where the sacrifice was
to be offered. The father, very sad and broken-hearted, began rolling
together some stones for an altar. Slowly he laid the wood in its place,
and wept when he thought of the sacrifice. Then with a tearful voice he
told the lad that he was to be the sacrifice. He laid the boy upon the
altar and kissed him. At that moment he heard a Voice, louder than ever
before, saying: "Abraham." He answered, "Here am I." The Voice said:
"Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do any harm unto him, for now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son, from me." With glad wonder Abraham looked around, and
there, to his great surprise, a ram was caught in some thick bushes.
Hurriedly he caught the ram, unbound his son, and offered up the ram as
a sacrifice with great joy. And, kneeling beside the altar, the aged
father thanked God, and homeward they returned with glad hearts and
happy spirits.

And Isaac grew to be a good and noble man, and the Lord prospered him.
His father, Abraham, lived many years in the Promised Land, and when he
died the whole country was full of grief, and with sorrow mingled with
love they followed the aged saint to the sunny slopes of beautiful
Macpelah and laid him in the tomb. Each whispered to the other that he
was a good and brave man. Many a time they would visit the cave where
the great man lay and tell one another about his wonderful life, his
many trials, his noble faith, and how he always obeyed the Voice of God.

On a rough stone beside the tomb a friend chiseled the words: "Abraham,
the Friend of God."

Bible [Adapted]