6Hear us, adoni: thou art a nasi Elohim among us; in the choice of kevareinu bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his kever, that thou mayest bury thy dead.

7And Avraham stood up, and bowed himself to the am ha'aretz, even to the bnei Chet.

8And he spoke to them, saying, If it be your nefesh (will) that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron ben Tzochar,

9That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his sadeh; for the kesef maleh (full price) he shall give it me for an achuzzah (possession) of a kever amongst you.

10And Ephron dwelt among the bnei Chet: and Ephron the Chitti answered Avraham in the hearing of the bnei Chet, even of all that went in at the sha'ar of his city, saying,

11Lo, adoni, hear me; the sadeh give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the bnei ammi give I it thee; bury thy dead.

12And Avraham bowed down himself before the am ha'aretz.

13And he spoke unto Ephron in the hearing of the am ha'aretz, saying, But if thou wilt give it, now, hear me; I will give thee kesef for the sadeh; accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there.

14And Ephron answered Avraham, saying unto him,

15Pay heed, adoni, unto me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of kesef; what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16And Avraham paid heed unto Ephron; and Avraham weighed to Ephron the kesef, which he had named in the hearing of the bnei Chet four hundred shekels of kesef, according to current merchant value.

17And the sadeh of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was near Mamre, the sadeh, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the sadeh, that were in all the borders round about, were deeded

18Unto Avraham for a property in the presence of the bnei Chet, before all that went in at the sha'ar of his city.

19And after this, Avraham buried Sarah his isha in the cave of the sadeh of Machpelah near Mamre; the same is Chevron in the eretz Kena'an.

20And the sadeh, and the cave that is therein, were deeded unto Avraham for an achuzzah of a kever by the bnei Chet.

THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE

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Genesis 23

Sarah Dies

1Sarah lived to be one hundred twenty-seven years old. 2She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad and cried because of her. 3After a while he got up from the side of his wife’s body and went to talk to the Hittites. He said, 4“I am only a stranger and a foreigner here. Sell me some of your land so that I can bury my dead wife.”

5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6“Sir, you are a great leader among us. You may have the best place we have to bury your dead. You may have any of our burying places that you want, and none of us will stop you from burying your dead wife.”

7Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites. 8He said to them, “If you truly want to help me bury my dead wife here, speak to Ephron, the son of Zohar for me. 9Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah at the edge of his field. I will pay him the full price. You can be the witnesses that I am buying it as a burial place.”

10Ephron was sitting among the Hittites at the city gate. He answered Abraham, 11“No, sir. I will give you the land and the cave that is in it, with these people as witnesses. Bury your dead wife.”

12Then Abraham bowed down before the Hittites. 13He said to Ephron before all the people, “Please let me pay you the full price for the field. Accept my money, and I will bury my dead there.”

14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“Sir, the land is worth ten pounds of silver, but I won’t argue with you over the price. Take the land, and bury your dead wife.”

16Abraham agreed and paid Ephron in front of the Hittite witnesses. He weighed out the full price, ten pounds of silver, and they counted the weight as the traders normally did.

17-18So Ephron’s field in Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold. Abraham became the owner of the field, the cave in it, and all the trees that were in the field. The sale was made at the city gate, with the Hittites as witnesses. 19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. (Mamre was later called Hebron in the land of Canaan.) 20So Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites to use as a burying place.

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Bereshis 23

Genesis 23