Genesis 23:1-19

Sarah lived to be one hundred and twenty-seven. She died in the land of Canaan at Kiriath Arba, now known as Hebron. There Abraham mourned and wept for her. After his time of mourning was over, Abraham got up from where her body lay, and went to speak with the Hittites. He said to them, “I live as an alien and stranger among you. Sell me some of your property so I can use it as a burial site for my wife.” “Hear us, my lord,” the Hittites answered, “you are a mighty prince of God among us. You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us would withhold our burial ground from you.” Then Abraham bowed respectfully before the Hittites, the people of the land and he said to them, “If you are willing to allow my wife a proper burial, then please hear me out. On my behalf please persuade your countryman, Ephron the son of Zohar, to sell me the cave he owns at Machpelah on the edge of his land. Let him sell it to me publicly and at the full price, so that I may own it for a burial site.” Now Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his countrymen. He spoke up so all the Hittites who sat at the gate as elders of the city could hear him, and said, “No, my lord, listen. I will give you not only the cave but also the entire field! In the presence of my people, I will give it to you to bury your dead.” Then Abraham bowed low before the people of the land, and he said to Ephron in the hearing of all the people, “No, please listen, kind sir. I will pay whatever the field is worth. Take my money so that I can bury my dead there.” “If you insist, my lord,” answered Ephron. “But what is a piece of land worth only four hundred silver shekels to men of our standing? Go ahead and bury your dead.” So Abraham agreed to the amount, weighed out the four hundred silver shekels according to the merchant’s standard of weight, and in the presence of the Hittites he gave the money to Ephron. So Ephron’s field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, along with the cave and all the trees within its borders, passed to Abraham as his legal possession. The complete transaction was carried out in the presence of the Hittites—those who sat as elders at the city gates. After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave there in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (now Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

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