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First Reading: Genesis Chapter 23 and 24Genesis 23
23:1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at
Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn
for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He
said, 4 "I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property
for a burial site here so I can bury my dead."
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 "Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty
prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will
refuse you his tomb for burying your dead."
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
8 He said to them, "If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen
to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell
me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field.
Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you."
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham
in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11
"No, my lord," he said. "Listen to me; I give you the field,
and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my
people. Bury your dead."
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to
Ephron in their hearing, "Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price
of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there."
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 "Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth
four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your
dead."
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had
named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according
to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre both the field and the cave
in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field was deeded 18
to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come
to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave
in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as
a burial site.
Genesis 24
24:1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed
him in every way. 2 He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in
charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you
to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will
not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I
am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for
my son Isaac."
5 The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with
me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?"
6 "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said.
7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household
and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To
your offspring I will give this land' he will send his angel before you
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 of mine. Only
do not take my son back there." 9 So the servant put his hand under the
thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him
all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made
his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well
outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today,
and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring,
and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it
be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,'
and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too' let her be the
one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have
shown kindness to my master."
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.
She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's
brother Nahor. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain
with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water
from your jar."
18 "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her
hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your
camels too, until they have finished drinking." 20 So she quickly emptied
her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough
for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to
learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring
weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked,
"Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's
house for us to spend the night?"
24 She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah
bore to Nahor." 25 And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder,
as well as room for you to spend the night."
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, "Praise be
to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness
and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey
to the house of my master's relatives."
28 The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah
had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As
soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and
had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and
found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 "Come, you who are
blessed by the LORD," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have
prepared the house and a place for the camels."
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder
were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet.
33 Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have
told you what I have to say."
"Then tell us," [Laban] said.
34 So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. 35 The LORD has blessed my master
abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver
and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master's
wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything
he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, 'You must not get
a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,
38 but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'
39 "Then I asked my master, 'What if the woman will not come back with
me?'
40 "He replied, 'The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel
with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my
son from my own clan and from my father's family. 41 Then, when you go to my
clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you
you will be released from my oath.'
42 "When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O LORD, God of my master
Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.
43 See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water
and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar,"
44 and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too,"
let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.'
45 "Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar
on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her,
'Please give me a drink.'
46 "She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and
I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 "I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?'
"She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.'
"Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and
I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master
Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's
brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my
master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing
to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her
become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."
52 When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground
before the LORD. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and
articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to
her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate
and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master."
55 But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us
ten days or so; then you may go."
56 But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted
success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master."
57 Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." 58
So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?"
"I will go," she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's
servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
"Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands;may your offspring
possess the gates of their enemies."
61 Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back
with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63
He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw
camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from
her camel 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 and
covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the
tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and
he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Matthew 11
11:1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on
from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to
ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone
else?"
4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed
is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
7 As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about
John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the
wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No,
those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9 Then what did you go out
to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the
one about whom it is written:
"'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before
you.'
11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone
greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom
of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing
to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him
hear.
16 "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting
in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.'
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'
19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom
is proved right by her actions."
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had
been performed, because they did not repent. 21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe
to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed
in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of
judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies?
No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you
had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell
you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for
you."
25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed
them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the
Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those
to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light."
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE
Part 4 of 8
The geography of the Bible centers on a small area of land that borders the Mediterranean Sea on the east. This particular land has been called Israel, Palestine, The Holy Land, Caanan, and The Promised Land. The capital of this land has been called Jerusalem since the time of David and is sometimes referred to as Zion. Much of the history and prophecy of the Bible revolves around this land but also includes areas from the Persian Gulf to Egypt to Rome. The following is a map of Bible lands during the time of the Patriarchs:
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