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.
亞伯拉罕買地葬撒拉
1撒拉享年一百二十七歲。 2她在迦南境內的基列·亞巴，即希伯崙去世。亞伯拉罕在那裡痛哭，哀悼她。 3他從亡妻旁邊站起來對赫人說： 4「我在你們中間是異鄉客旅，請你們給我一塊墳地，我好埋葬我的亡妻。」 5赫人答道： 6「我主，請聽我們說，你在我們中間是一位尊貴的王子，你可以選我們這裡最好的墳地，沒有人會反對你使用他的墳地埋葬你的妻子。」 7亞伯拉罕就起身向當地的赫人下拜，說： 8「如果你們願意讓我安葬亡妻，就請答應我，代我求瑣轄的兒子以弗崙， 9把他地頭的麥比拉洞賣給我。請他當著你們的面按實價賣給我作墳地。」
10當時以弗崙正坐在赫人當中，於是他當著所有出入城門口的赫人答覆亞伯拉罕說： 11「不可！我主，請聽我說，我當著族人的面，把那塊地和其中的山洞送給你。去安葬你的死者吧！」 12亞伯拉罕向當地的人下拜， 13當眾對以弗崙說：「你若願意，請聽我說，我要把地錢給你，請你收下，好讓我在那裡安葬我的妻子。」 14以弗崙回答說： 15「我主，請聽我說，九十兩銀子的地對你我來說算什麼呢？去安葬你的妻子吧！」 16於是，亞伯拉罕聽了以弗崙的意思，就照當眾提出的價錢，按市價稱了九十兩銀子給他。
17這樣，以弗崙在麥比拉、靠近幔利的那塊地和山洞及地界內所有的樹木， 18都歸了亞伯拉罕。這是在城門口的赫人面前買下的。
19之後，亞伯拉罕把妻子撒拉安葬在迦南的幔利附近、麥比拉田間的洞裡。幔利就是希伯崙。 20這塊赫人的地和其中的山洞從此成了亞伯拉罕家的墳地。
