Genesis 23 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

Sarah dies

1 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the land of Canaan. Sarah’s death made Abraham very sad. He went to the place where her body was lying. There he wept over her. 3 Then Abraham got up from beside his wife’s body. He said to the Hittites, 4 ‘I’m an outsider. I’m a stranger among you. Sell me some property where I can bury those in my family who die. Then I can bury my wife.’ 5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 ‘Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your wife in the best place we have to bury our dead. None of us will refuse to sell you a place to bury her.’ 7 Then Abraham bowed down in front of the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 He said to them, ‘If you are willing to let me bury my wife, then listen to me. Speak to Zohar’s son Ephron for me. 9 Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah. It belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price. I want it as a place to bury my dead wife among you.’ 10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham. All of the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city heard him. 11 ‘No, sir,’ Ephron said. ‘Listen to me. I will give you the field. I’ll also give you the cave that’s in the field. I will give it to you in front of my people. Bury your wife.’ 12 Again Abraham bowed down in front of the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron so they could hear him. He said, ‘Please listen to me. I’ll pay the price of the field. Accept it from me. Then I can bury my wife there.’ 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 ‘Sir, listen to me. The land is worth 5 kilograms of silver. But what’s that between the two of us? Bury your wife.’ 16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s offer. He weighed out for Ephron the price he had named. The Hittites there had heard the amount. The price was 5 kilograms of silver. Abraham measured it by the weights that were used by merchants. 17 So Ephron sold his field to Abraham. The field was in Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it. He also bought all the trees that were inside the borders of the field. Everything was sold 18 to Abraham as his property. He bought it in front of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah. He buried her in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Mamre is at Hebron. 20 So the field and the cave that was in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites. The property became a place to bury those who died in his family.

English Standard Version

Sarah’s Death and Burial

1 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. (Ge 23:19; Ge 35:27; Jos 14:15; Jud 1:10)

Ge 23:19Ge 35:27Jos 14:15Jud 1:10

3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,^[1] 4 “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” (Ge 17:8; 1Ch 29:15; Ps 105:12; Ac 7:5; Heb 11:9; Heb 11:13)

Ge 17:81Ch 29:15Ps 105:12Ac 7:5Heb 11:9Heb 11:13

5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God^[2] among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.” 10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, (Ge 34:20; Ge 34:24; Ru 4:1) 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels^[3] of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” (Ex 30:13; Eze 45:12) 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. (1Ch 21:25; Jer 32:9; Zec 11:12) 17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over (Ge 25:9; Ge 49:29; Ge 50:13) 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites. (Ru 4:7; Jer 32:10)