Read the Bible

Death and Burial of Sarah

¹ Now ^(F1)Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.² Sarah died in ^(C1)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham ^(F1)came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.³ Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the ^(C1)sons of Heth, saying,⁴ "I am ^(C1)a stranger and a foreign resident among you; ^(C2)give me ^(F1)a ^(C3)burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight."⁵ The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,⁶ "Hear us, my lord: you are a ^(F1)(C1)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead."⁷ So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, "If ^(F1)you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with ^(C1)Ephron the son of Zohar for me,⁹ that 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 ^(F1)your presence for ^(F2)a burial site."¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham ^(F1)so that the sons of Heth heard, ^(C1)that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying,¹¹ "No, my lord, listen to me; ^(C1)I 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."¹² And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.¹³ But he spoke to Ephron ^(F1)so 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."¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,¹⁵ "My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth ^(F1)four hundred ^(C1)shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? So bury your dead."¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(C1)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the ^(F1)presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.

¹⁷ So ^(C1)Ephron'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 ^(F1)within all the confines of its border, ^(F2)were deeded over¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession ^(C1)in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city.¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it ^(F1)were ^(C1)deeded over to Abraham for ^(F2)a burial site by the sons of Heth.