Genesis 23
New Life Version
The Death of Sarah
23 Sarah lived 127 years. These were the years of Sarah’s life. 2 Then Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. And Abraham had sorrow for Sarah and cried for her. 3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife, and said to the sons of Heth, 4 “I am a stranger living among you for a time. Give me some of your land so I may bury my wife.” 5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, 6 “Listen to us, my lord. You are a powerful ruler among us. Bury your wife in the best of our graves. None of us will keep his grave from you for burying your wife.” 7 So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to have me bury my wife, hear me, and ask Zohar’s son Ephron for me. 9 Ask him to give me the grave of Machpelah which he has at the other side of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price in front of you, for a place to bury my wife.”
10 Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham so what he said could be heard by the sons of Heth and all who came in through the gate of his city. 11 He said, “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field. And I give you the grave that is in it. I give it to you in front of the sons of my people. Bury your wife.”
12 Abraham bowed to the people of the land. 13 He said to Ephron so that all the people of the land heard it, “Listen to me if you will. I will give you the price of the field. Receive it from me, that I may bury my wife there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me. The land is worth four hundred pieces of silver. What is that between me and you? So bury your wife.”
16 Abraham listened to Ephron. And Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver which he had said and was heard by the sons of Heth to be the price, four hundred pieces of silver. He weighed it in the same way those who buy and sell weighed it at that time. 17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah east of Mamre, the field and grave that was in it, and all the trees within the sides of the field, were handed over 18 to Abraham for his own. It was handed over in front of the sons of Heth and all who came in through the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the grave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the grave in it were handed over to Abraham by the sons of Heth for a place to bury his wife.
Genesis 23
New Living Translation
The Burial of Sarah
23 When Sarah was 127 years old, 2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
3 Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders, 4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”
7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites 8 and said, “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar 9 to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field. I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”
10 Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the town. 11 “No, my lord,” he said to Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.”
12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land, 13 and he replied to Ephron as everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy it from you. Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, please listen to me. The land is worth 400 pieces[a] of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
17 So Abraham bought the plot of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees. 18 It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate. 19 Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron). 20 So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
Genesis 23
Easy-to-Read Version
Sarah Dies
23 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2 She died in the city of Kiriath Arba (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad and cried for her there. 3 Then he left his dead wife and went to talk to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am only a foreigner staying in your country. I have no place to bury my wife. Please give me some land so that I can bury her.”
5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Sir, you are a great leader[a] among us. You can have the best place we have to bury your dead. You can have any of our burying places that you want. None of us will stop you from burying your wife there.”
7 Abraham got up and bowed to the people. 8 He said to them, “If you really want to help me bury my dead wife, speak to Ephron the son of Zohar for me. 9 I would like to buy the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to Ephron. It is at the end of his field. I will pay him the full price. I want all of you to be witnesses that I am buying it as a burial place.”
10 Ephron was sitting there among the people. He answered Abraham, 11 “No, sir. Here in front of my people, I give you that land and the cave on it so that you can bury your wife.”
12 Abraham bowed before the Hittites. 13 He said to Ephron before all the people, “But I want to give you the full price for the field. Accept my money, and I will bury my dead.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Sir, listen to me. Ten pounds[b] of silver mean nothing to you or me. Take the land and bury your dead wife.”
16 Abraham understood that Ephron was telling him the price of the land.[c] So Abraham paid him for the land. He weighed out ten pounds of silver for Ephron and gave it to the merchant.[d]
17-18 So the field of Ephron changed owners. This field was in Machpelah, near Mamre. Abraham became the owner of the field, the cave in it, and all the trees in the field. Everyone in the city saw the agreement between Ephron and Abraham. 19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of that field near Mamre (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites. So this became his property to be used as a burial place.
Footnotes
- Genesis 23:6 great leader Literally, “God’s prince.”
- Genesis 23:15 Ten pounds Literally, “400 shekels” (4.6 kg). Also in verse 16.
- Genesis 23:16 Abraham understood … the land Literally, “Abraham heard.”
- Genesis 23:16 merchant Someone who earns their living by buying and selling things. Here, this is probably a person who was helping Abraham and Ephron write the contract in verses 17 and 18.
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