Chapter 23

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 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.