Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy

A Song of Ascents.

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 And ^[a]Sarah lived 127 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]came 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 sojourner and a foreign resident among you; ^(D)give me a ^(E)possession for a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord, you are a ^[c](F)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites; none of us will refuse you his burial sites 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 ^[d]desire for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with ^(G)Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in ^[e]your presence as a possession for 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 sight 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 And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please hear me; I will give the silver for the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, hear me; a piece of land worth ^[f]four hundred ^(J)shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶ So Abraham heard Ephron; and Abraham ^(K)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the ^[g]hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, ^[h]commercial standard.

¹⁷ So ^(L)Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were ^[i]within all the confines of its border, ^[j]were deeded over ¹⁸ to Abraham as purchased ^(M)in the sight of the sons of Heth, before all who came 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.

Timothy’s Good Report

3 Therefore ^(A)when we could endure it no longer, we were pleased to be left behind at ^(B)Athens alone, ² and we sent ^(C)Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, ³ so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that ^(D)we have been destined for this. ⁴ For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, ^(E)just as it happened and as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(F)when I could endure it no longer, I also ^(G)sent to know about your faith, lest somehow ^(H)the tempter has tempted you, and ^(I)our labor be in vain.