Sarah's Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² And Sarah died at ^(A)Kiriath-arba (that is, ^(B)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,^{[a] 4 (C)}“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; ^(D)give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God^[b] among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” ⁷ Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸ And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who ^(E)went in at the gate of his city, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear me: I 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.” ¹² Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred ^(F)shekels^[c] of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” ¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham ^(G)weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So ^(H)the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it ^(I)were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of ^(A)Gideon, ^(B)Barak, ^(C)Samson, ^(D)Jephthah, of ^(E)David and ^(F)Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, ^(G)stopped the mouths of lions, ^34 (H)quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, ^(I)became mighty in war, ^(J)put foreign armies to flight. ^35 (K)Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even ^(L)chains and imprisonment. ^37 (M)They were stoned, they were sawn in two,^{[a] (N)}they were killed with the sword. ^(O)They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—^(P)wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And all these, ^(Q)though commended through their faith, ^(R)did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, ^(S)that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(T)sin which clings so closely, and ^(U)let us run ^(V)with endurance the race that is ^(W)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(X)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(Y)the shame, and ^(Z)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Words of Eternal Life

^60 (A)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, ^(B)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶² Then what if you were to see ^(C)the Son of Man ^(D)ascending to ^(E)where he was before? ^63 (F)It is the Spirit who gives life; ^(G)the flesh is no help at all. ^(H)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But ^(I)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus ^(J)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and ^(K)who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you ^(L)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

^66 (M)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(N)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(O)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and ^(P)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(Q)you are ^(R)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, ^(S)“Did I not choose you, ^(T)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(U)a devil.” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas ^(V)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(W)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.