Genesis 23
New International Version
The Death of Sarah
23 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba(A) (that is, Hebron)(B) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.(C)
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.[a](D) He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger(E) among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.(F)”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince(G) among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar(H) on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah,(I) which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites(J) who had come to the gate(K) of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give[b](L) you the field, and I give[c] you the cave that is in it. I give[d] it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels[e] of silver,(M) but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver,(N) according to the weight current among the merchants.(O)
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah(P) near Mamre(Q)—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property(R) in the presence of all the Hittites(S) who had come to the gate(T) of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah(U) near Mamre (which is at Hebron(V)) in the land of Canaan.(W) 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded(X) to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.(Y)
Footnotes
- Genesis 23:3 Or the descendants of Heth; also in verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18 and 20
- Genesis 23:11 Or sell
- Genesis 23:11 Or sell
- Genesis 23:11 Or sell
- Genesis 23:15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms
Genesi 23
Nuova Riveduta 1994
Morte di Sara e sua sepoltura
23 (A)La vita di *Sara fu di centoventisette anni. Tanti furono gli anni della sua vita.
2 Sara morí a Chiriat-Arba, che è Ebron, nel paese di *Canaan, e *Abraamo venne a far lutto per Sara e a piangerla. 3 Poi Abraamo si alzò, si allontanò dalla salma e parlò ai figli di Chet dicendo: 4 «Io sono straniero e di passaggio tra di voi; datemi la proprietà di una tomba in mezzo a voi per seppellire la salma e toglierla dalla mia vista». 5 I figli di Chet risposero ad Abraamo: 6 «Ascoltaci, signore! Tu sei un principe di Dio in mezzo a noi; seppellisci la tua salma nella migliore delle nostre tombe; nessuno di noi ti rifiuterà la sua tomba perché tu ve la seppellisca». 7 Abraamo si alzò, s'inchinò davanti al popolo del paese, davanti ai figli di Chet, 8 e parlò loro cosí: «Se piace a voi che io seppellisca la salma togliendola dalla mia vista, ascoltatemi e intercedete per me presso Efron, figlio di Zoar, 9 perché mi ceda la grotta di Macpela che è all'estremità del suo campo; me la dia per il suo prezzo intero, come tomba di mia proprietà nel vostro paese». 10 Or Efron stava seduto in mezzo ai figli di Chet; ed Efron, l'Ittita, rispose ad Abraamo in presenza dei figli di Chet, di tutti quelli che entravano per la *porta della sua città: 11 «No, mio signore, ascoltami! Io ti do il campo e ti do la grotta che vi si trova; te ne faccio dono, in presenza dei figli del mio popolo; seppellisci la salma». 12 Allora Abraamo s'inchinò davanti al popolo del paese 13 e, in presenza del popolo del paese, disse a Efron: «Ti prego, ascoltami! Ti darò il prezzo del campo, accettalo da me, e io seppellirò lí la salma». 14 Efron rispose ad Abraamo: 15 «Signor mio, ascoltami! Un pezzo di terreno di quattrocento *sicli d'argento, che cos'è tra me e te? Seppellisci dunque la salma». 16 Abraamo diede ascolto a Efron e gli pesò il prezzo che egli aveva detto in presenza dei figli di Chet: quattrocento sicli d'argento, di buona moneta corrente sul mercato.
17 Cosí il campo di Efron, che era a Macpela di fronte a Mamre, il campo con la grotta che vi si trovava, tutti gli alberi che erano nel campo e in tutti i confini all'intorno, 18 furono assicurati come proprietà d'Abraamo, in presenza dei figli di Chet e di tutti quelli che entravano per la porta della città di Efron. 19 Subito dopo, Abraamo seppellí sua moglie Sara nella grotta del campo di Macpela di fronte a Mamre, cioè Ebron, nel paese di Canaan. 20 Il campo e la grotta che vi si trova, furono assicurati ad Abraamo, dai figli di Chet, come sepolcro di sua proprietà.
Genesis 23
New King James Version
Sarah’s Death and Burial
23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in (A)Kirjath Arba (that is, (B)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of (C)Heth, saying, 4 (D)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. (E)Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord: You are (F)a [a]mighty 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 Then 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 out of my sight, hear me, and [b]meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of (G)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 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who (H)entered at the gate of his city, saying, 11 (I)“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; 13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing 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 (J)shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” 16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham (K)weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So (L)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 in the presence 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 (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that is in it (M)were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
Footnotes
- Genesis 23:6 Lit. prince of God
- Genesis 23:8 entreat
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Copyright © 1994 by Geneva Bible Society
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

