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23:1  When Sarah was 127 years old,
23:2  she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
23:3  Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,
23:4  "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."
23:5  The Hittites replied to Abraham,
23:6  "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."
23:7  Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites
23:8  and said, "Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar
23:9  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."
23:10  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.
23:11  "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."
23:12  Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land,
23:13  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."
23:14  Ephron answered Abraham,
23:15  "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."
23:16  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.
23:17  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.
23:18  It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate.
23:19  Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron).
23:20  So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.