1And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that 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 spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, that I may bury my dead from before me. 5And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God#GodHebrew: Elohim among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead. 7And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, 8and spoke to them, saying, If it be your will that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is at the end of his field; for the full money let him give it to me amongst you for a possession of a sepulchre. 10And Ephron was dwelling among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11No, my lord: hear me. The field give I thee; and the cave that is in it, to thee I give it; before the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. 12And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land; 13and he spoke to Ephron, in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only thou wouldst listen to me, I give the money for the field: take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. 14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15My lord, hearken to me. A field of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the money that he had named in the ears of the sons of Heth — four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant. 17So the field of Ephron, which was at Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its borders round about, 18were assured to Abraham for a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, opposite to Mamre: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.

First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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Genesis 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.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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Genesis 23

Genesis 23