Chapter 24
1.
And the life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years, and Sarah died; and Abraham rose up from before his dead to seek a burial place to bury his wife Sarah; and he went and spoke to the children of
Heth, the inhabitants of the land, saying,
2.
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you in your land; give me a possession of a burial place in your land, that I may bury my dead from before me.
3.
And the children of
Hethsaid unto Abraham, behold the land is before thee, in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead, for no man shall withhold thee from burying thy dead.
4.
And Abraham said unto them, If you are agreeable to this go and entreat for me to
Ephron, the son of
Zochar, requesting that he may give me the cave of
Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for whatever he desire for it.
5.
And
Ephrondwelt among the children of
Heth, and they went and called for him, and he came before Abraham, and
Ephronsaid unto Abraham, Behold all thou
requirestthy servant will do; and Abraham said, No, but I will buy the cave and the field which thou hast for value, In order that it may be for a possession of a burial place for ever.
6.
And
Ephronanswered and said, Behold the field and the cave are before thee, give whatever thou
desirest; and Abraham said, Only at full value will I buy it from thy hand, and from the hands of those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from the hand of thy seed for ever.
7.
And
Ephronand all his brethren heard this, and Abraham weighed to
Ephronfour hundred shekels of silver in the hands of
Ephronand in the hands of all his brethren; and Abraham wrote this transaction, and he wrote it and testified it with four witnesses.
8.
And these are the names of the witnesses,
Amigalson of
Abishnathe Hittite,
Adichoromson of
Ashunachthe
Hivite,
Abdonson of
Achiramthe
Gomerite,
Bakdilthe son of
Abudishthe
Zidonite.
9.
And Abraham took the book of the purchase, and placed it in his treasures, and these are the words that Abraham wrote in the book, namely:
10.
That the cave and the field Abraham bought from
Ephronthe Hittite, and from his seed, and from those that go out of his city, and from their seed for ever, are to be a purchase to Abraham and to his seed and to those that go forth from his loins, for a possession of a burial place for ever; and he put a signet to it and testified it with witnesses.
11.
And the field and the cave that was in it and all that place were made sure unto Abraham and unto his seed after him, from the children of
Heth; behold it is before
Mamrein Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan.
12.
And after this Abraham buried his wife Sarah there, and that place and all its boundary became to Abraham and unto his seed for a possession of a burial place.
13.
And Abraham buried Sarah with pomp as observed at the interment of kings, and she was buried in very fine and beautiful garments.
14.
And at her bier was Shem, his sons
Eberand
Abimelech, together with
Anar,
Ashcoland
Mamre, and all the grandees of the land followed her bier.
15.
And the days of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven years and she died, and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he performed the rites of mourning for seven days.
16.
And all the inhabitants of the land comforted Abraham and Isaac his son on account of Sarah.
17.
And when the days of their mourning passed by Abraham sent away his son Isaac, and he went to the house of Shem and
Eber, to learn the ways of the Lord and his instructions, and Abraham remained there three years.
18.
At that time Abraham rose up with all his servants, and they went and returned homeward to
Beersheba
, and Abraham and all his servants remained in
Beersheba
.
19.
And at the revolution of the year
Abimelechking of the Philistines died in that year; he was one hundred and ninety-three years old at his death; and Abraham went with his people to the land of the Philistines, and they comforted the whole household and all his servants, and he then turned and went home.
20.
And it was after the death of
Abimelechthat the people of
Gerartook
Benmalichhis son, and he was only twelve years old, and they made him lying in the place of his father.
21.
And they called his name
Abimelechafter the name of his father, for thus was it their custom to do in
Gerar, and
Abimelechreigned instead of
Abimelechhis father, and he sat upon his throne.
22.
And
Lot
the son of
Haran
also died in those days, in the thirty-ninth year of the life of Isaac, and all the days that
Lot
lived were one hundred and forty years and he died.
23.
And these are the children of
Lot
, that were born to him by his daughters, the name of the first born was
Moab
, and the name of the second was
Benami.
24.
And the two sons of
Lot
went and took themselves wives from the
land
of
Canaan
, and they bare children to them, and the children of
Moab
were Ed,
Mayon,
Tarsus
, and
Kanvil, four sons, these are fathers to the children of
Moab
unto this day.
25.
And all the families of the children of
Lot
went to dwell wherever they should light upon, for they were fruitful and increased abundantly.
26.
And they went and built themselves cities in the land where they dwelt, and they called the names of the cities which they built after their own names.
27.
And
Nahorthe son of
Terah, brother to Abraham, died in those days in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac, and all the days of
Nahorwere one hundred and seventy-two years and he died and was buried in
Haran
.
28.
And when Abraham heard that his brother was dead he grieved sadly, and he mourned over his brother many days.
29.
And Abraham called for
Eliezerhis head servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came and stood before him.
30.
And Abraham said to him, Behold I am old, I do not know the day of my death; for I am advanced in days; now therefore rise up, go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this place and from this land, from the daughters of the Canaanites amongst whom we dwell.
31.
But go to my land and to my birthplace, and take from thence a wife for my son, and the Lord God of Heaven and earth who took me from my father’s house and brought me to this place, and said unto me, To thy seed will I give this land for an inheritance for ever, he will send his angel before thee and prosper thy way, that thou
mayestobtain a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.
32.
And the servant answered his master Abraham and said, Behold I go to thy birthplace and to thy father’s house, and take a wife for thy son from there; but if the woman be not willing to follow me to this land, shall I take thy son back to the land of thy birthplace?
33.
And Abraham said unto him, Take heed that thou bring not my son hither again, for the Lord before whom I have walked he will send his angel before thee and prosper thy way.
34.
And
Eliezerdid as Abraham ordered him, and
Eliezerswore unto Abraham his master upon this matter; and
Eliezerrose up and took ten camels of the camels of his master, and ten men from his master’s servants with him, and they rose up and went to
Haran, the city of Abraham and
Nahor, in order to fetch a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham; and whilst they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and
Eber, and they brought from thence his son Isaac.
35.
And Isaac came home to his father’s house to
Beersheba
, whilst
Eliezerand his men came to
Haran
; and they stopped in the city by the watering place, and he made his camels to kneel down by the water and they remained there.
36.
And
Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, prayed and said, O God of Abraham my master; send me I pray thee good speed this day and show kindness unto my master, that thou
shaltappoint this day a wife for my master’s son from his family.
37.
And the Lord hearkened to the voice of
Eliezer, for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to meet with the daughter of
Bethuel, the son of
Milcah, the wife of
Nahor, brother to Abraham, and
Eliezercame to her house.
38.
And
Eliezerrelated to them all his concerns, and that he was Abraham’s servant, and they greatly rejoiced at him.
39.
And they all blessed the Lord who brought this thing about, and they gave him Rebecca, the daughter of
Bethuel, for a wife for Isaac.
40.
And the young woman was of very comely appearance, she was a virgin, and Rebecca was ten years old in those days.
41.
And
Bethueland
Labanand his children made a feast on that night, and
Eliezerand his men came and ate and drank and rejoiced there on that night.
42.
And
Eliezerrose up in the morning, he and the men that were with him, and he called to the whole household of
Bethuel, saying, Send me away that I may go to my master; and they rose up and sent away Rebecca and her nurse Deborah, the daughter of
Uz, and they gave her silver and gold, men servants and maid servants, and they blessed her.
43.
And they sent
Eliezeraway with his men; and the servants took Rebecca, and he went and returned to his master to the
land
of
Canaan
.
44.
And Isaac took Rebecca and she became his wife, and he brought her into the tent.
45.
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, the daughter of his uncle
Bethuel, for a wife.
