Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. ² And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.^{(A) 3} Abraham rose up from beside his dead and said to the Hittites, ⁴ “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”^{(B) 5} The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.”^{(C) 7} Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸ 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 son of Zohar,^{(D) 9} so 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 a possession 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 went in at the gate of his city,^{(E) 11} “No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”^{(F) 12} Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”^{(G) 16} Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham 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.^(H)

¹⁷ So 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, passed^{(I) 18} to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of 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 facing Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying place.

The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.^{(J) 2} Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,^{(K) 3} and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,^{(L) 4} but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.”^{(M) 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 offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.^{(N) 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.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.^(O)

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master, and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.^{(P) 11} He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water.^{(Q) 12} And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.^{(R) 13} I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.^{(S) 14} Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”^(T)

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder.^{(U) 16} The young woman was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.^{(V) 17} Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me sip a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.^{(W) 19} When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”^{(X) 20} So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹ The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.^(Y)

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels^{(Z) 23} and said, “Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”^{(AA) 25} She added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night.” ²⁶ The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord^{(AB) 27} and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the way to the house of my master’s kin.”^(AC)

²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man, to the spring.^{(AD) 30} As soon as he had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man, and there he was, standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”^{(AE) 32} So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded the camels and gave him straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.^{(AF) 33} Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.” He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.^{(AG) 36} And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and he has given him all that he has.^{(AH) 37} 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 live, ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’^{(AI) 39} I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’^{(AJ) 40} But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and make your way successful. You shall get a wife for my son from my kindred, from my father’s house.^{(AK) 41} Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my kindred; even if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’^(AL)

⁴² “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going!^{(AM) 43} I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,”^{(AN) 44} and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’^{(AO) 46} She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.^{(AP) 47} Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms.^{(AQ) 48} Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.^{(AR) 49} Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”^(AS)

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you anything bad or good.^{(AT) 51} Look, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the Lord.^{(AU) 53} And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold and garments and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.^{(AV) 54} Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they rose in the morning, he said, “Send me back to my master.”^{(AW) 55} Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey successful; let me go that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the young woman and ask her.” ⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men.^{(AX) 60} And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from^[a] Beer-lahai-roi and was settled in the Negeb.^{(AZ) 63} Isaac went out in the evening to walk^[b] in the field, and, looking up, he saw camels coming.^{(BA) 64} And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, 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 his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^(BB)

Judging Others

7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.^{(A) 2} For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Profaning the Holy

⁶ “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.^(B)

Ask, Search, Knock

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.^{(C) 8} For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.^{(D) 9} Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? ¹⁰ Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

¹² “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.^(E)

The Narrow Gate

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy^[a] that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.^{(F) 14} For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.^{(G) 16} You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles?^{(H) 17} In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^{(I) 20} Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Concerning Self-Deception

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.^{(J) 22} On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’^{(K) 23} Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’^(L)

Hearers and Doers

²⁴ “Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.^{(M) 25} The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

²⁸ Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,^{(N) 29} for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.