1. Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3. And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,
4. “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5. The Hittites answered Abraham,
6. “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.”
7. Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
8. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,
9. that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
10. Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,
11. “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
12. Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
13. And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”
14. Ephron answered Abraham,
15. “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16. Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17. So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over
18. to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
1. Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
2. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,
3. that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,
4. but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5. The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6. Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.
7. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
8. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”
9. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.
10. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.
11. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.
12. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
13. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
15. Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.
16. The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
17. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
18. She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.
19. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”
20. So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels.