Genesis 23 - 24, Matthew 17-18:14, Psalms 12 - 13

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23And ¹Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ²Sarah died in ^aKiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham ¹came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³Then Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the ^asons of Heth, saying, ⁴“I am ^aa sojourner and a foreign resident among you; ^bgive me a ^cpossession for a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶“Hear us, my lord, you are a ¹^,^amighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites; none of us will refuse you his burial sites for burying your dead.” ⁷So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your ¹desire for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with ^aEphron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in ¹your presence as a possession for a burial site.” ¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, even ^aof all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹“No, my lord, hear me; ^aI give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.” ¹²And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. ¹³And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please hear me; I will give the silver for the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵“My lord, hear me; a piece of land worth ¹four hundred ^ashekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶So Abraham heard Ephron; and Abraham ^aweighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the ¹hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, ²commercial standard.

¹⁷So ^aEphron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were ¹within all the confines of its border, ²were deeded over ¹⁸to Abraham as purchased ^ain the sight of the sons of Heth, before all who came in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰So the field and the cave that is in it ¹were ^adeeded over to Abraham for a possession for a burial site by the sons of Heth.

A Wife for Isaac

24Now ^aAbraham was old, advanced in age; and Yahweh had ^bblessed Abraham in every way. ²And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who ^aruled over all that he owned, “^bPlease place your hand under my thigh, ³and I will make you swear by Yahweh, ^athe God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^bshall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^cthe Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴but you will go to ^amy land and to my kin, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵And the servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I indeed take your son back to the land from where you came?” ⁶Then Abraham said to him, “^aBeware lest you take my son back there! ⁷“^aYahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kin, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘^bTo your seed I will give this land,’ He will send ^cHis angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. ⁸“But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will ^abe free from this oath of mine; ^bonly do not take my son back there.” ⁹So the servant ^aplaced his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and he went with all kinds of ^agood things of his master’s in his hand. So he arose and went to ¹Mesopotamia, to ^bthe city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^athe well of water at evening time, ^bthe time when the women go out to draw water. ¹²And he said, “^aO Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please ^bcause this to happen before me today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³“Behold, ^aI am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴now may it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will give water to your camels to drink also’—may she be the one whom You have decided for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

Rebekah Goes with Abraham’s Servant

¹⁵^aAnd before he had finished speaking, behold, ^bRebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^cMilcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, was coming out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶Now the young woman was ^avery beautiful in appearance, a virgin, and no man had ¹known her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “^aPlease give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ¹⁸^aAnd she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^ashe said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰So she hurried and emptied her jar into the watering channel and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹^aMeanwhile, the man was gazing at her ¹in silence, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.

²²Now it happened that when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^agold ring weighing a ¹half-shekel and two bracelets for her ²wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there a place for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴And she said to him, “^aI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵And she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and a place to lodge in.” ²⁶Then the man ^abowed low and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷And he said, “^aBlessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^bHis lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^cYahweh has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸Then ^athe young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^aLaban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰Now it happened, when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s ¹wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “²This is what the man said to me,” he came out to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹And he said, “^aCome in, ^bblessed of Yahweh! Why do you stand outside since ^cI have prepared the house and a place for the camels?” ³²So the man came into the house. Then ¹^,^aLaban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have spoken my words.” And he said, “Speak!” ³⁴So he said, “I am ^aAbraham’s servant. ³⁵“And Yahweh has greatly ^ablessed my master, so he has become great; and He has given him ^bflocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶“Now ^aSarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master ¹in her old age, and ^bhe has given him all that he has. ³⁷“^aAnd my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I ¹live; ³⁸but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹“^aThen I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰“And he said to me, ‘^aYahweh, before whom I have ^bwalked, will send ^cHis angel with you and will make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. ⁴¹^aThen you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives. Now if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴²“So ^aI came today to the spring and said, ‘O Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ^bsuccessful; ⁴³behold, ^aI am standing by the spring of water, and may it be that the ¹maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “^bPlease let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; she is the woman whom Yahweh has decided upon for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵“Before I had finished ^aspeaking in my heart, behold, ^bRebekah was coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew, and ^cI said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶“Then she hurried and lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘^aDrink, and I will also give water to your camels to drink’; so I drank, and she also gave water to the camels to drink. ⁴⁷“^aThen I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ^bring on her nose and the bracelets on her ¹wrists. ⁴⁸“And I ^abowed low and worshiped Yahweh; and I blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, ^bwho had guided me in the true way to take the daughter of my master’s ¹relative for his son. ⁴⁹“So now if you are going to ^ashow lovingkindness and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “^aThe matter comes from Yahweh; ^bso we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹“Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as Yahweh has spoken.”

⁵²Now it happened that when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he ^abowed himself to the ground ¹before Yahweh. ⁵³The servant brought out ^aarticles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. And then they arose in the morning, and he said, “^aSend me away to my master.” ⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, “^aLet the young woman stay with us a few days, or even ten; afterward she will go.” ⁵⁶And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since ^aYahweh has made my way successful. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷And they said, “We will call the young woman and ask about ¹her wishes.” ⁵⁸Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^aher nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister,^aBecome thousands of ten thousands,And may ^byour seed possessThe gate of those who hate him.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah arose with her young women, and they mounted the camels and went after the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went.

Rebekah Becomes Isaac’s Wife

⁶²Now Isaac had come from going to ^aBeer-lahai-roi, for he ¹was living in ^bthe land of the ²Negev. ⁶³And Isaac went out ^ato ¹muse in the field toward evening; and ^bhe lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac and dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵Then she said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her ¹veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant recounted to Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ^ahe took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^bhe loved her. Thus, Isaac was comforted after ^chis mother’s death.

The Transfiguration

17And ^asix days later Jesus *brought with Him ^bPeter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ²And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ^aI will make three ¹booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^aa voice out of the cloud said, “^bThis is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^ado not be afraid.” ⁸And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

⁹^aAnd as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^bTell the vision to no one until ^cthe Son of Man has ^drisen from the dead.” ¹⁰And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that ^aElijah must come first?” ¹¹And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹²but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ¹to him whatever they wished. So also ^athe Son of Man is going to suffer ²at their hands.” ¹³Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Casts Out a Demon

¹⁴^aAnd when they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵“¹Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has ²^,^aseizures and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶“And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said, “O you unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured ¹at once.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰And He *said to them, “Because of your little faith; for truly I say to you, ^aif you have faith ¹the size of ^ba mustard seed, you will say to ^cthis mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^dnothing will be impossible to you. ²¹¹[“^aBut this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

²²^aAnd while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ¹delivered into the hands of men; ²³and ^athey will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Temple Tax

²⁴Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^athe ¹two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^bthe ²two-drachma tax?” ²⁵He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^atolls or ^btaxes, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶And when Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ¹exempt. ²⁷“However, so that we do not ¹^,^aoffend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a ²stater. Take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

Who Is Greatest in Heaven?

18^aAt that ¹time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^bWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²And He called a child to Himself and set him ¹before them, ³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ¹are converted and ^abecome like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴“Whoever therefore will humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵“And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶but ^awhoever ^bcauses one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a ¹heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For ^ait is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; nevertheless, woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸“^aAnd if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹“^aAnd if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into the ¹^,^bfiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that ^atheir angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹¹[“^aFor the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹²“What do you think? ^aIf any man has one hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³“And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴“In this way, it is not the will ¹of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Yahweh Will Set the Needy in Safety

For the choir director. According to the ¹Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Save, O Yahweh, for ^athe holy man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.²They ^aspeak worthlessness to one another;With a ^bflattering lip and with a double heart they speak.³May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,The tongue that ^aspeaks great things;⁴Who ^ahave said, “With our tongue we will prevail;Our lips are ¹our own; who is lord over us?”⁵“Because of the ^adevastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,Now ^bI will arise,” says Yahweh; “I will ^cset him in the ¹safety for which he ²longs.”⁶The ^awords of Yahweh are pure words;As silver ^btried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.⁷You, O Yahweh, will keep them;You will ^aguard him from this generation forever.⁸The ^awicked strut about on every sideWhen ¹^,^bvileness is exalted among the sons of men.

How Long, O Yahweh?

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

How long, O Yahweh? Will You ^aforget me forever?How long ^bwill You hide Your face from me?²How long shall I ^atake counsel in my soul,Having ^bsorrow in my heart all the day?How long will my enemy be exalted over me?³^aLook and answer me, O Yahweh my God;^bGive light to my eyes, lest I ^csleep the sleep of death,⁴Lest my enemy ^asays, “I have overcome him,”And ^bmy adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.⁵But I have ^atrusted in Your lovingkindness;My heart shall ^brejoice in Your salvation.⁶I will ^asing to Yahweh,Because He has ^bdealt bountifully with me.