Genesis 23

The Death of Sarah

23Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. ²She died at Kiriath Arba^x (that is, Hebron)^y in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.^z

³Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.^aa He said, ⁴“I am a foreigner and stranger^b among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.^c”

⁵The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶“Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince^d among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar^e on my behalf ⁹so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah,^f which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

¹⁰Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites^g who had come to the gate^h of his city. ¹¹“No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give^bi you the field, and I give^c you the cave that is in it. I give^d it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹²Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵“Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels^e of silver,^j but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver,^k according to the weight current among the merchants.^l

¹⁷So Ephron’s field in Machpelah^m near Mamreⁿ—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸to Abraham as his property^o in the presence of all the Hittites^p who had come to the gate^q of the city. ¹⁹Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah^r near Mamre (which is at Hebron^s) in the land of Canaan.^{t 20}So the field and the cave in it were deeded^u to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.^v