The play opens as Abraham prays to God in thanks, thanking him for the various blessings in his life, the most meaningful of these being Isaac, his only son. A messenger from God appears in the form of an angel and brings word to Abraham that in order to test the strength of his faith, God has commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac at the top of the mountain. Abraham is distraught by the instruction but as a loyal and faithful servant of God, he sets out to the mountain to do as he is instructed. What makes the journey all the more harrowing is the fact that Isaac is very excited to be setting off on an adventure with his father, with whom he is close; Isaac clearly is unaware that he is the sacrifice that they are going to the mountain to make. Abraham cannot bear to betray Isaac in this way and so tells him that he is to be sacrificed.
Isaac naturally pleads with his father to spare his life but when he learns that his sacrifice is God's will, he stops his pleas and agrees to comply; he tells his father that they should waste no time in performing the sacrifice. Abraham binds his son so that he will not defend himself from the sword as a natural reflex action, or a sense of survival.
Abraham draws his sword but as he does so, the angel appears once more and takes the sword from his hand. Th angel tells Abraham that God is pleased with his loyalty and his obedience and that because of this Isaac no longer needs to be sacrificed. Abraham sees a ram on the mountainside, and takes it for sacrifice instead.
God appears above them and tells them that they will be rewarded for their sacrifice.
Finally, the character of a doctor appears, a familiar figure in Medieval dramas as the voice of academia and reason. He tells that the moral of the play is that God's commandments should be obeyed and that it is not for man to question the plans that God has for us.
