Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² And Sarah died at Kir′iath-ar′ba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites, ⁴ “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pe′lah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. ² And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ⁴ but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”

⁶² Now Isaac had come from^[a] Beer-la′hai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb. ⁶³ And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into the tent,^[b] and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

The Call of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at table^[a] in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”