Genesis 23
23
Sarah Dies and Abraham Buys a Burial Ground
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2She died in Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourned her death.
3He left the place where his wife's body was lying, went to the Hittites, and said, 4#Heb 11.9, 13; Acts 7.16“I am a foreigner living here among you; sell me some land, so that I can bury my wife.”
5They answered, 6“Listen to us, sir. We look upon you as a mighty leader; bury your wife in the best grave that we have. Any of us would be glad to give you a grave, so that you can bury her.”
7Then Abraham bowed before them 8and said, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Ephron son of Zohar 9to sell me Machpelah Cave, which is near the edge of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for its full price, here in your presence, so that I can own it as a burial ground.”
10Ephron himself was sitting with the other Hittites at the meeting place at the city gate; he answered in the hearing of everyone there, 11“Listen, sir; I will give you the whole field and the cave that is in it. Here in the presence of my own people, I will give it to you, so that you can bury your wife.”
12But Abraham bowed before the Hittites 13and said to Ephron, so that everyone could hear, “May I ask you, please, to listen. I will buy the whole field. Accept my payment, and I will bury my wife there.”
14Ephron answered, 15“Sir, land worth only 400 pieces of silver — what is that between us? Bury your wife in it.” 16Abraham agreed and weighed out the amount that Ephron had mentioned in the hearing of the people — 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard weights used by the merchants.
17That is how the property which had belonged to Ephron at Machpelah, east of Mamre, became Abraham's. It included the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees in the field up to the edge of the property. 18It was recognized as Abraham's property by all the Hittites who were there at the meeting.
19Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in that cave in the land of Canaan. 20So the field which had belonged to the Hittites, and the cave in it, became the property of Abraham for a burial ground.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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