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CHAPTER 23
1 Forsooth Sarah lived an hundred and seven and twenty years,
2 and died in the city of Arba (or and then she died in Kiriatharba), which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to bewail and (to) beweep her.
3 And when he had risen from the office of the dead body, he spake to the sons of Heth, and said, (And when he had risen up from before his dead wife’s body, he said to the Hittites,)
4 I am a comeling and a pilgrim with you; give ye to me (the) right of [a] sepulchre with you, that I bury my dead body. (I am a newcomer and a foreigner among you; sell ye me some land for a burial place, so that I can bury my dead wife’s body on it.)
5 And the sons of Heth answered, and said, (And the Hittites answered, and said,)
6 Lord, hear thou us; thou art the prince of God with us; bury thou thy dead body in our chosen sepulchres, and no man shall be able to forbid thee, that not thou bury thy dead body in the sepulchre of him. (My lord, hear thou us; thou art the prince of God with us; bury thou thy dead wife’s body in the choicest of our burial places; none of us shall forbid thee, to bury thy dead wife’s body in his burial place.)
7 And Abraham [a] rose, and worshipped the people of the land, that is, the sons of Heth. (And Abraham arose, and bowed before the people of the land, that is, the Hittites.)
8 And he said to them, If it pleaseth your soul that I bury my dead body (or If it pleaseth your soul that I bury my dead wife’s body here), hear ye me, and pray ye for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar,
9 that he give to me the double cave, which he hath in the uttermost part of his field; for sufficient money give he it to me before you into possession of [a] sepulchre. (that he give me the cave at Machpelah, which he hath in the uttermost part of his field, for the full price; yea, let him sell it to me for a possession of a burial place here among you.)
10 Forsooth Ephron dwelled in the midst of the sons of Heth (or And Ephron happened to be sitting there in the midst of the other Hittites). And Ephron answered to Abraham, while all (the) men heard that entered [in] by the gate of that city, and (he) said,
11 My lord, it shall not be done so, but more harken thou (to) that that I say; I give to thee the field, and the cave which is therein, while the sons of my people be present; bury thou thy dead body. (My lord, it shall not be done so, but more harken thou to what I say; I give thee the field, and the cave which is in it, while the sons of my people be present; bury thou thy wife’s dead body there.)
12 Abraham worshipped before the Lord, and before the people of the land, (And Abraham bowed low before the people of the land,)
13 and he spake to Ephron, while his people stood about, (and said), I beseech, that thou hear me; I shall give money (to thee) for the field, receive thou it, and so I shall bury my dead body in the field (or and then I shall bury my dead wife’s body there in the field).
14 And Ephron answered,
15 My lord, hear thou me; the land which thou askest (for) is worth four hundred shekels of silver, that is the price betwixt me and thee; but (now) how much is this? bury thou thy dead body (or so bury thou thy dead wife’s body there).
16 And when Abraham had heard this, he numbered (out) the money which Ephron asked (for), while the sons of Heth heard, (or And when Abraham had heard this, he counted out the money which Ephron had named, and which the other Hittites had also heard him say), (that is), four hundred shekels of silver, and of proved common money.
17 And the field that was sometime of Ephron, in which field was a double den, beholding to Mamre, as well that field, as the den, and all the trees thereof, in all the terms thereof by compass, (And so the field that belonged to Ephron, which field was at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, that field, and the cave, and all the trees, within its boundaries all around,)
18 was confirmed to Abraham into (a) possession, while the sons of Heth saw, and all men that entered by the gate of that city. (was confirmed as Abraham’s possession, before the Hittites, and all the other men who came in by the city gate.)
19 And so Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the double den of the field, that beheld to Mamre; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan. (And so Abraham buried his wife Sarah, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan.)
20 And the field, and the den that was therein, was confirmed of the sons of Heth to Abraham, into possession of (a) sepulchre. (And the field, and the cave that was in it, were confirmed by the Hittites to be Abraham’s possession for a burial place.)

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© 2001,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015 Terry Noble