The Death of Sarah

23 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. ² She died at Kiriath Arba^(A) (that is, Hebron)^(B) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.^(C)

³ Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.^[a](D) He said, ⁴ “I am a foreigner and stranger^(E) among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.^(F)”

¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah^(A) near Mamre (which is at Hebron^(B)) in the land of Canaan.^(C)

Isaac and Rebekah

24 Abraham was now very old,^(A) and the Lord had blessed^(B) him in every way.^{(C) 2} He said to the senior servant^(D) in his household, the one in charge of all that he had,^(E) “Put your hand under my thigh.^{(F) 3} I want you to swear^(G) by the Lord, the God of heaven^(H) and the God of earth,^(I) that you will not get a wife for my son^(J) from the daughters of the Canaanites,^(K) among whom I am living,^{(L) 4} but will go to my country and my own relatives^(M) and get a wife for my son Isaac.^(N)”

⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land?^(O) Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?^(P)”

⁶ “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,”^(Q) Abraham said. ⁷ “The Lord, the God of heaven,^(R) who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land^(S) and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring^[a](T) I will give this land’^(U)—he will send his angel before you^(V) so that you can get a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath^(W) of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”^(X)

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi,^(A) for he was living in the Negev.^{(B) 63} He went out to the field one evening to meditate,^[a](C) and as he looked up,^(D) he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel^{(E) 65} and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil^(F) and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent^(G) of his mother Sarah,^(H) and he married Rebekah.^(I) So she became his wife, and he loved her;^(J) and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^(K)

Psalm 78

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

The Calling of Matthew^(A)

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^(B) he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^(C)

¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’^[a](D) For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^(E)