Genesis 23

vayyihyu khayye sarah me'ah shanah ve'esrim shanah vesheva shanim shene khayye sarah

Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years.

vattamot sarah beqiryat arba hiv khevron be'erets kena'an vayyavo avraham lispod lesarah velivkotah

Sarah died in Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her.

vayyaqom avraham me'al pene meto vayedabber el-bene-khet lemor

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying,

ger-vetoshav anokhi immakhem tenu li akhuzzat-qever immakhem ve'eqberah meti millefanay

“I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.”

vayya'anu vene-khet et-avraham lemor lo

And the Hittites replied to Abraham, saying to him,

shema'enu adoni nesi elohim attah betokhenu bemivkhar qevarenu qevor et-metekha ish mimmennu et-qivro lo-yikhleh mimmekha miqqevor metekha

“Hear us, my lord: you are the elect of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold his burial place from you for burying your dead.”

vayyaqom avraham vayyishtakhu le'am-ha'arets livne-khet

Thereupon Abraham bowed low to the people of the land, the Hittites,

vayedabber ittam lemor im-yesh et-nafshekhem liqbor et-meti millefanay shema'uni ufigu-li be'efron ben-tsokhar

and he said to them, “If it is your wish that I remove my dead for burial, you must agree to intercede for me with Ephron son of Zohar.

veyitten-li et-me'arat hammakhpelah asher-lo asher biqtseh sadehu bekhesef male yittenennah li betokhekhem la'akhuzzat-qaver

Let him sell me the cave of Machpelah that he owns, which is at the edge of his land. Let him sell it to me, at the full price, for a burial site in your midst.”

ve'efron yoshev betokh bene-khet vayya'an efron hakhitti et-avraham be'ozne vene-khet lekhol ba'e sha'ar-iro lemor

Ephron was present among the Hittites; so Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, all who entered the gate of his town, saying,

lo-adoni shema'eni hassadeh natatti lakh vehamme'arah asher-bo lekha netattiha le'ene vene-ammi netattiha lakh qevor metekha

“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and I give you the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

vayyishtakhu avraham lifne am ha'arets

Then Abraham bowed low before the people of the land,

vayedabber el-efron be'ozne am-ha'arets lemor akh im-attah lu shema'eni natatti kesef hassadeh qakh mimmenni ve'eqberah et-meti shammah

and spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If only you would hear me out! Let me pay the price of the land; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”

vayya'an efron et-avraham lemor lo

And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him,

adoni shema'eni erets arba me'ot sheqel-kesef beni uvenekha mah-hiv ve'et-metekha qevor

“My lord, do hear me! A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Go and bury your dead.”

vayyishma avraham el-efron vayyishqol avraham le'efron et-hakkesef asher dibber be'ozne vene-khet arba me'ot sheqel kesef over lassokher

Abraham accepted Ephron’s terms. Abraham paid out to Ephron the money that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites—four hundred shekels of silver at the going merchants’ rate.

vayyaqom sedeh efron asher bammakhpelah asher lifne mamre hassadeh vehamme'arah asher-bo vekhol-ha'ets asher bassadeh asher bekhol-gevulo saviv

So Ephron’s land in Machpelah, near Mamre—the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the confines of that field—passed

le'avraham lemiqnah le'ene vene-khet bekhol ba'e sha'ar-iro

to Abraham as his possession, in the presence of the Hittites, of the assembly in his town’s gate.

ve'akhare-khen qavar avraham et-sarah ishto el-me'arat sedeh hammakhpelah al-pene mamre hiv khevron be'erets kena'an

And then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan.

vayyaqom hassadeh vehamme'arah asher-bo le'avraham la'akhuzzat-qaver me'et bene-khet

Thus the field with its cave passed from the Hittites to Abraham, as a burial site.