Death and Burial of Sarah

23 Now ^[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 in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the ^(B)sons of Heth, saying, ⁴ “I am ^(C)a stranger and a foreign resident among you; ^(D)give me ^[c]a ^(E)burial site among you so 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 stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If ^[e]you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with ^(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 ^[h]so that the sons of Heth heard, ^(H)that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, listen to 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 But he spoke to Ephron ^[i]so that the people of the land heard, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth ^[j]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 ^[k]presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.

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 ^[l]within all the confines of its border, ^[m]were deeded over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession ^(M)in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it ^[n]were ^(N)deeded over to Abraham for ^[o]a burial site by the sons of Heth.

²¹ “Now ^(A)brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and ^(B)children will rise up against parents and ^[a]cause them to be put to death. ²² And ^(C)you will be hated by all because of My name, but ^(D)it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³ “But whenever they ^(E)persecute you in ^[b]one city, flee to the ^[c]next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel ^(F)until the Son of Man comes.

The Meaning of Discipleship

²⁴ “^(G)A ^[d]disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he may become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ^(H)If they have called the head of the house ^[e](I)Beelzebul, how much more will they insult the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not ^(J)fear them, ^(K)for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ^27 (L)What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim ^(M)on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather ^(N)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[f](O)hell. ^29 (P)Are two sparrows not sold for an ^[g]assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(Q)even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹ So do not fear; ^(R)you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.

³² “Therefore, ^(S)everyone who ^[h]confesses Me before people, I will also confess ^[i]him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But ^(T)whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ “^(U)Do not think that I came to ^[j]bring peace on the earth; I did not come to ^[k]bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to ^(V)turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and ^(W)a person’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷ “^(X)The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And ^(Y)the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ^39 (Z)The one who has found his ^[l]life will lose it, and the one who has lost his ^[m]life on My account will find it.

The Reward for Service

⁴⁰ “^(AA)The one who ^[n]receives you ^[o]receives Me, and ^(AB)the one who ^[p]receives Me ^[q]receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (AC)The one who ^[r]receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who ^[s]receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And ^(AD)whoever gives one of these ^[t]little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”