The Daily Audio Bible

23 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ³ And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying, ⁴ I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. ⁵ And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, ⁶ Hear us, my lord; thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. ⁷ And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. ⁸ And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place. ¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the children of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. ¹² And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. ¹³ And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. ¹⁴ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, ¹⁵ My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. ¹⁶ And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure ¹⁸ unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.

24 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. ² And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: ³ and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: ⁴ but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. ⁵ And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? ⁶ And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. ⁷ Jehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spake unto me, and who sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence. ⁸ And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. ⁹ And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, ^[a]having all goodly things of his master’s in his hand: and he arose, and went to ^[b]Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. ¹¹ And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water: ¹⁴ and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. ¹⁶ And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷ And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher. ¹⁸ And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. ¹⁹ And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. ²⁰ And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. ²¹ And the man looked stedfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. ²² And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of ^[c]half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, ²³ and said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? ²⁴ And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. ²⁵ She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. ²⁶ And the man bowed his head, and worshipped Jehovah. ²⁷ And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth toward my master: as for me, Jehovah hath led me in the way to the house of my master’s brethren.

²⁸ And the damsel ran, and told her mother’s house according to these words. ²⁹ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the fountain. ³⁰ And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he was standing by the camels at the fountain. ³¹ And he said, Come in, thou blessed of Jehovah; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. ³² And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him. ³³ And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. ³⁴ And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses. ³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. ³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: ³⁸ but thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son. ³⁹ And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. ⁴⁰ And he said unto me, Jehovah, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: ⁴¹ then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give her not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath. ⁴² And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: ⁴³ behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass, that the maiden that cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher to drink; ⁴⁴ and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my master’s son. ⁴⁵ And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. ⁴⁶ And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. ⁴⁷ And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. ⁴⁸ And I bowed my head, and worshipped Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. ⁴⁹ And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from Jehovah: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as Jehovah hath spoken.

8 And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. ² And behold, there came to him a leper and ^[a]worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. ³ And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus saith unto him, ^[b]See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

⁵ And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, ⁶ and saying, Lord, my ^[c]servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. ⁷ And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him. ⁸ And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not ^[d]worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say ^[e]the word, and my ^[f]servant shall be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man ^[g]under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my ^[h]servant, Do this, and he doeth it. ¹⁰ And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, ^[i]I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. ¹¹ And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall ^[j]sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: ¹² but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. ¹³ And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And the ^[k]servant was healed in that hour.

¹⁴ And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick of a fever. ¹⁵ And he touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered unto him. ¹⁶ And when even was come, they brought unto him many ^[l]possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ^[m]Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.