Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have [a](A)displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 (B)From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established [b](C)strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make (D)the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3 When I [c](E)consider (F)Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The (G)moon and the stars, which You have [d]ordained;
4 (H)What is man that You [e]take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a (I)little lower than [f]God,
And (J)You crown him with (K)glory and majesty!
6 You make him to (L)rule over the works of Your hands;
You have (M)put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the [g]beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 (N)O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Death and Burial of Sarah
23 Now [a]Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 Sarah died in (A)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham [b]went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the (B)sons of Heth, saying, 4 “I am (C)a stranger and a sojourner among you; (D)give me [c]a (E)burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord, you are a [d](F)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.” 7 So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your [e]wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach (G)Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in [f]your presence for [g]a burial site.” 10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even (H)of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, hear me; (I)I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.” 12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred (J)shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham (K)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the [h]hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, [i]commercial standard.
17 So (L)Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were [j]within all the confines of its border, [k]were deeded over 18 to Abraham for a possession (M)in the presence of the sons of Heth, 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 at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that is in it, [l]were (N)deeded over to Abraham for [m]a burial site by the sons of Heth.
14 Now the Pharisees, who were (A)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (B)were scoffing at Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who (C)justify yourselves [a]in the sight of men, but (D)God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable [b]in the sight of God.
16 “(E)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time (F)the gospel of the kingdom of God [c]has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 (G)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one [d]stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
18 “(H)Everyone who [e]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is [f]divorced from a husband commits adultery.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.