Genesis 23
23
1And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And 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. 3And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying, 4I 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. 5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, 6Hear 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. 7And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. 8And 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, 9that 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. 10Now 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, 11Nay, 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. 12And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. 13And 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. 14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, 15My 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. 16And 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.
17So 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 18unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. 19And 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. 20And 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.
Genesis 23
23
Sarah Dies
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2She died at Kiriath Arba. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the land of Canaan. Sarah’s death made Abraham very sad. He went to the place where her body was lying. There he wept over her.
3Then Abraham got up from beside his wife’s body. He said to the Hittites, 4“I’m an outsider. I’m a stranger among you. Sell me some property where I can bury those in my family who die. Then I can bury my wife.”
5The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6“Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your wife in the best place we have to bury our dead. None of us will refuse to sell you a place to bury her.”
7Then Abraham bowed down in front of the Hittites, the people of the land. 8He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, then listen to me. Speak to Zohar’s son Ephron for me. 9Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah. It belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price. I want it as a place to bury my dead wife among you.”
10Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham. All of the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city heard him. 11“No, sir,” Ephron said. “Listen to me. I will give you the field. I’ll also give you the cave that’s in the field. I will give it to you in front of my people. Bury your wife.”
12Again Abraham bowed down in front of the people of the land. 13He spoke to Ephron so they could hear him. He said, “Please listen to me. I’ll pay the price of the field. Accept it from me. Then I can bury my wife there.”
14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. But what’s that between the two of us? Bury your wife.”
16Abraham agreed to Ephron’s offer. He weighed out for Ephron the price he had named. The Hittites there had heard the amount. The price was ten pounds of silver. Abraham measured it by the weights that were used by merchants.
17So Ephron sold his field to Abraham. The field was in Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it. He also bought all the trees that were inside the borders of the field. Everything was sold 18to Abraham as his property. He bought it in front of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah. He buried her in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Mamre is at Hebron. 20So the field and the cave that was in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites. The property became a place to bury those who died in his family.
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