Genesis 23

Death and Burial of Sarah

1Now 1Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2Sarah died in 2Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham 3came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the 4sons of Heth, saying, 4“I am 5a stranger and a foreign resident among you; 6give me 7a 8burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6“Hear us, my lord: you are a 910mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.” 7So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8And he spoke with them, saying, “If 11you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with 12Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in 13your presence for 14a burial site.” 10Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham 15so that the sons of Heth heard, 16that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying, 11“No, my lord, listen to me; 17I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.” 12And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13But he spoke to Ephron 18so that the people of the land heard, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.” 14Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15“My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth 19four hundred 20shekels of silver--what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” 16Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham 21weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the 22presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.

17So 23Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were 24within all the confines of its border, 25were deeded over 18to Abraham as a possession 26in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20So the field and the cave that was in it 27were 28deeded over to Abraham for 29a burial site by the sons of Heth.