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Genesis 23
1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of
Sarah.
2 And Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham
came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
4 I am a foreigner and a sojourner among you. Give me property for a burial place among
you, that I may bury my dead from before my face.
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 Hear us, my lord: You are a Godly 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 And 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 from before my
face, hear me, and entreat Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his
field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.
10 And Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered
Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying,
11 No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you
before the eyes of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead.
12 And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;
13 and he spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, If you will give it,
please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead
there.
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that
between you and me? So bury your dead.
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver to Ephron
which he had spoken in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver,
currency of the merchants.
17 And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field
and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all
the surrounding borders, were deeded
18 to Abraham as a possession before the eyes 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 (which is Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 And the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as
property for a burial place.
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