Genesis 23
23
CHAPTER 23
1Forsooth Sarah lived an hundred and seven and twenty years,
2and died in the city of Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to bewail and beweep her.
3And when he had risen from the office of the dead body, he spake to the sons of Heth, and said,
4I am a comeling and a pilgrim with you; give ye to me right of [a] sepulchre with you, that I bury my dead body.
5And the sons of Heth answered, and said,
6Lord, hear thou us; thou art the prince of God with us; bury thou thy dead body in our chosen sepulchres, and no man shall be able to forbid thee, that not thou bury thy dead body in the sepulchre of him.
7And Abraham [a] rose, and worship-ped or honoured the people of the land, that is, the sons of Heth.
8And he said to them, If it pleaseth your soul that I bury my dead body, hear ye me, and pray ye for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar,
9that he give to me the double cave, which he hath in the uttermost part of his field; for sufficient money give he it to me before you into possession of [a] sepulchre.
10Forsooth Ephron dwelled in the midst of the sons of Heth. And Ephron answered to Abraham, while all men heard that entered by the gate of that city, and said,
11My lord, it shall not be done so, but more hearken thou to that that I say; I give to thee the field, and the cave which is therein, while the sons of my people be present; bury thou thy dead body.
12Abraham worshipped before the Lord, and before the people of the land,
13and he spake to Ephron, while his people stood about, I beseech, that thou hear me; I shall give money for the field, receive thou it, and so I shall bury my dead body in the field.
14And Ephron answered,
15My lord, hear thou me; the land which thou askest for is worth four hundred shekels of silver, that is the price betwixt me and thee; but how much is this? bury thou thy dead body.
16And when Abraham had heard this, he numbered out the money which Ephron asked for, while the sons of Heth heard, four hundred shekels of silver, and of proved common money.
17And the field that was sometime of Ephron, in which field was a double den, beholding to Mamre, as well that field, as the den, and all the trees thereof, in all the terms thereof by compass,
18was confirmed to Abraham into possession, while the sons of Heth saw, and all men that entered by the gate of that city.
19And so Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the double den of the field, that beheld to Mamre; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
20And the field, and the den that was therein, was confirmed of the sons of Heth to Abraham, into possession of a sepulchre.
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Genesis 23: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
Genesis 23
23
Chapter 23
Sarah dies and Abraham buries her
1Sarah lived for 127 years. 2She died in the land of Canaan, at Kiriath Arba. That place is also called Hebron. Abraham was very sad. He went to her tent and he cried very much, because she was dead.
3Then Abraham went to the Hittite people and he said to them, 4‘I am living as a stranger among you. Please, sell me some land here, so that it belongs to me. Then I can use it to bury my wife properly.’
5The Hittites replied, 6‘Sir, please listen to what we say. We respect you as a great and powerful person. We have good places where we bury our people who have died. Choose the best one that you like. None of us will refuse to give you the place that you choose. Then you will be able to bury your dead wife there.’
7Abraham stood up. He turned his face towards the ground to respect the Hittites who lived in that place. 8He said to them, ‘Since you have agreed to help me, please do this. Speak to Zohar's son, Ephron, for me. 9Ask him to sell the cave of Machpelah to me. It belongs to Ephron. It is at the edge of his field. You will see that I pay the proper price to him. Then it will belong to me. I can bury my family there when they die.’
10Ephron was sitting there with his people, at the city gate. He spoke so that all the Hittites could hear him. 11Ephron said, ‘No sir. Please listen to me. You may take my field as well as the cave. I promise in front of my people that I will give all this to you. Then you can bury your dead wife there.’
12Abraham again turned his face towards the ground to respect the people who lived in that place. 13While they were listening, he said to Ephron, ‘Let me say this. I will pay you the price to buy the field. Please accept the money from me. Then I can bury my dead wife there.’
14Ephron replied to Abraham, 15‘Listen to me, sir. The land is worth 400 shekels of silver. But the price is not important, because we are friends. Now bury your dead wife there.’ #23:15 People used shekels to measure weight. Ephron is telling Abraham how much the land will cost. He knows that Abraham will not accept the field as a gift. This is the way that people would agree to a price.
16Abraham agreed to the price that Ephron had asked for. He weighed the correct amount of silver to give to Ephron. The Hittites there knew that it had been done properly. The weight of 400 shekels agreed with the weights that people used at that time.
17In that way, Ephron's field in Machpelah, near Mamre, now belonged to Abraham. This included the field, the cave in the field and all the trees in the field as far as its edge. 18All the Hittite people who were sitting there at the city gate agreed that Abraham was the new owner.
19After this, Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, in the cave in the field of Machpelah. This field was near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. That place is also called Hebron. 20That is how Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it from the Hittite people. He bought it so that he could bury there his family who died.
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