Genesis 23New King James Version
Sarah’s Death and Burial
23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years;these werethe years of the life of Sarah.2 So Sarah died in(A)Kirjath Arba (thatis,(B)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of(C)Heth, saying,4 (D)“Iama foreigner and a visitor among you.(E)Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,6 “Hear us, my lord: Youare(F)a[a]mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and[b]meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,9 that he may give me the cave of(G)Machpelah which he has, whichisat the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who(H)entered at the gate of his city, saying,11 (I)“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave thatisin it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If youwill give it,please hear me. I will give you money for the field; takeitfrom me and I will bury my dead there.”
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,15 “My lord, listen to me; the landis worthfour hundred(J)shekels of silver. Whatisthat between you and me? So bury your dead.”16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham(K)weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So(L)the field of Ephron whichwasin Machpelah, whichwasbefore Mamre, the field and the cave whichwasin it, and all the trees thatwerein the field, whichwerewithin all the surrounding borders, were deeded18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (thatis,Hebron) in the land of Canaan.20 So the field and the cave thatisin it(M)were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
Footnotes
- Genesis 23:6Lit.prince of God
- Genesis 23:8entreat
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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