³ Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.^[a](A) He said, ⁴ “I am a foreigner and stranger^(B) among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.^(C)”

⁵ The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince^(D) among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar^(E) on my behalf ⁹ so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah,^(F) 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.”

¹⁰ Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites^(G) who had come to the gate^(H) of his city. ¹¹ “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give^[b](I) you the field, and I give^[c] you the cave that is in it. I give^[d] it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³ and 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.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels^[e] of silver,^(J) but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham 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,^(K) according to the weight current among the merchants.^(L)

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah^(M) near Mamre^(N)—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property^(O) in the presence of all the Hittites^(P) who had come to the gate^(Q) of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah^(R) near Mamre (which is at Hebron^(S)) in the land of Canaan.^{(T) 20} So the field and the cave in it were deeded^(U) to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.^(V)

³ Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek.^{(A) 4} I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you^[a] will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you,^(B) and I am next in line.”

“I will redeem it,” he said.

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite,^(C) the^[b] dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”^(D)

⁶ At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem^(E) it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”^(F)

⁷ (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption^(G) and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal^(H) and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions^(I) in Israel.)^(J)

⁸ So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.^(K)

¹¹ Then the elders and all the people at the gate^(A) said, “We are witnesses.^(B) May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah,^(C) who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah^(D) and be famous in Bethlehem.^(E)

⁹ so I bought the field^(A) at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[a] of silver.^{(B) 10} I signed and sealed the deed,^(C) had it witnessed,^(D) and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— ¹² and I gave this deed to Baruch^(E) son of Neriah,^(F) the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³ “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed^(G) and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.