Genesis 23

¹And the life of Sarah is a hundred and twenty and seven years—years of the life of Sarah; ²and Sarah dieth in Kirjath-Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Caanan, and Abraham goeth in to mourn for Sarah, and to bewail her.

³And Abraham riseth up from the presence of his dead, and speaketh unto the sons of Heth, saying, ⁴‘A sojourner and a settler I am with you; give to me a possession of a burying-place with you, and I bury my dead from before me.’ ⁵And the sons of Heth answer Abraham, saying to him, ⁶‘Hear us, my lord; a prince of God art thou in our midst; in the choice of our burying-places bury thy dead: none of us his burying-place doth withhold from thee, from burying thy dead.’ ⁷And Abraham riseth and boweth himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, ⁸and he speaketh with them, saying, ‘If it is your desire to bury my dead from before me, hear me, and meet for me with Ephron, son of Zoar; ⁹and he giveth to me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the extremity of his field; for full money doth he give it to me, in your midst, for a possession of a burying-place.’ ¹⁰And Ephron is sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answereth Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, of all those entering the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹‘Nay, my lord, hear me: the field I have given to thee, and the cave that is in it, to thee I have given it; before the eyes of the sons of my people I have given it to thee—bury thy dead.’ ¹²And Abraham boweth himself before the people of the land, ¹³and speaketh unto Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, ‘Only—if thou wouldest hear me—I have given the money of the field—accept from me, and I bury my dead there.’ ¹⁴And Ephron answereth Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵‘My lord, hear me: the land—four hundred shekels of silver; between me and thee, what is it?—thy dead bury.’

¹⁶And Abraham hearkeneth unto Ephron, and Abraham weigheth to Ephron the silver which he hath spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred silver shekels, passing with the merchant. ¹⁷And established are the field of Ephron, which is in Machpelah, which is before Mamre, the field and the cave which is in it, and all the trees which are in the field, which are in all its border round about, ¹⁸to Abraham by purchase, before the eyes of the sons of Heth, among all entering the gate of his city. ¹⁹And after this hath Abraham buried Sarah his wife at the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (which is Hebron), in the land of Canaan; ²⁰and established are the field, and the cave which is in it, to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place, from the sons of Heth.

Chapter 24