Genesis 23

Sarah’s Burial

23Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life. ²Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron ^s) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: ^t4“I am a foreign resident among you. ^uGive me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.” ^vw

⁵The Hittites replied to Abraham, ^x6“Listen to us, lord. ^yYou are God’s chosen one ^zamong us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. ^aNone of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹to give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence, for the full price, as a burial place.”

¹⁰Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. So in the presence ^bof all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city, ^cEphron the Hittite answered Abraham: ¹¹“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence ^dof my people. Bury your dead.”

¹²Abraham bowed down to the people of the land ¹³and said to Ephron in the presence ^eof the people of the land, “Please listen to me. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham and said to him, ¹⁵“My lord, listen to me. Land worth 400 shekels of silver ^f—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” ¹⁶Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the presence ^gof the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate. ^h17So Ephron’s field ⁱat Machpelah near Mamre—the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field—became ¹⁸Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city. ¹⁹After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰The field with its cave passed from the Hittites to Abraham ^jas a burial place.