The Death of Sarah
1Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.23:3 Or the descendants of Heth; also in verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18 and 20 He said, 4“I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6“Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, 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.”
10Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11“No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give23:11 Or sell you the field, and I give23:11 Or sell you the cave that is in it. I give23:11 Or sell it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13and 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.”
14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels23:15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16Abraham 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, according to the weight current among the merchants.
17So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
亚伯拉罕买地葬撒拉
1撒拉享年一百二十七岁。 2她在迦南境内的基列·亚巴，即希伯仑去世。亚伯拉罕在那里痛哭，哀悼她。 3他从亡妻旁边站起来对赫人说： 4“我在你们中间是异乡客旅，请你们给我一块坟地，我好埋葬我的亡妻。” 5赫人答道： 6“我主，请听我们说，你在我们中间是一位尊贵的王子，你可以选我们这里最好的坟地，没有人会反对你使用他的坟地埋葬你的妻子。” 7亚伯拉罕就起身向当地的赫人下拜，说： 8“如果你们愿意让我安葬亡妻，就请答应我，代我求琐辖的儿子以弗仑， 9把他地头的麦比拉洞卖给我。请他当着你们的面按实价卖给我作坟地。”
10当时以弗仑正坐在赫人当中，于是他当着所有出入城门口的赫人答复亚伯拉罕说： 11“不可！我主，请听我说，我当着族人的面，把那块地和其中的山洞送给你。去安葬你的死者吧！” 12亚伯拉罕向当地的人下拜， 13当众对以弗仑说：“你若愿意，请听我说，我要把地钱给你，请你收下，好让我在那里安葬我的妻子。” 14以弗仑回答说： 15“我主，请听我说，九十两银子的地对你我来说算什么呢？去安葬你的妻子吧！” 16于是，亚伯拉罕听了以弗仑的意思，就照当众提出的价钱，按市价秤了九十两银子给他。
17这样，以弗仑在麦比拉、靠近幔利的那块地和山洞及地界内所有的树木， 18都归了亚伯拉罕。这是在城门口的赫人面前买下的。
19之后，亚伯拉罕把妻子撒拉安葬在迦南的幔利附近、麦比拉田间的洞里。幔利就是希伯仑。 20这块赫人的地和其中的山洞从此成了亚伯拉罕家的坟地。
