21 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
21 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 23
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1 When Sarah was 127 years old,
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2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
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3 Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,
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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.”
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5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
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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.”
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7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites
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8 and said, “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar
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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.”
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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.
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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.”
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12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land,
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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.”
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14 Ephron answered Abraham,
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15 “My lord, please listen to me. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
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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.
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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.
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18 It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate.
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19 Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron).
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20 So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place. |