¹ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

² `And thou, son of man, dost thou judge? dost thou judge the city of blood? then thou hast caused it to know all its abominations,

³ and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it hath made idols on it for defilement.

⁴ By thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast been guilty, And by thine idols that thou hast made thou hast been defiled, And thou causest thy days to draw near, And art come in unto thine years, Therefore I have given thee a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.

⁵ The near and the far-off from thee scoff at thee, O defiled of name -- abounding in trouble.

⁶ Lo, princes of Israel -- each according to his arm Have been in thee to shed blood.

⁷ Father and mother made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in thee.

⁸ My holy things thou hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted.

⁹ Men of slander have been in thee to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in thee, Wickedness they have done in thy midst.

¹⁰ The nakedness of a father hath one uncovered in thee, The defiled of impurity they humbled in thee.

¹¹ And each with the wife of his neighbour hath done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law hath defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, hath humbled in thee.

¹² A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!

¹³ And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst.

¹⁴ Doth thy heart stand -- are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done [it].

¹⁵ And I have scattered thee among nations, And have spread thee out among lands, And consumed thy uncleanness out of thee.

¹⁶ And thou hast been polluted in thyself Before the eyes of nations, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'

¹⁷ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man,

¹⁸ The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace -- dross hath silver been,

¹⁹ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto the midst of Jerusalem,

²⁰ A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace -- to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you.

²¹ And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst.

²² As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'

²³ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

²⁴ `Son of man, say to it, Thou [art] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation.

²⁵ A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.

²⁶ Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And Between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst.

²⁷ Its princes in its midst [are] as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain.

²⁸ And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, `Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment.

³⁰ And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found.

³¹ And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

¹ Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life.

² Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

³ Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,

⁴ "I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

⁵ The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

⁶ "Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead."

⁷ Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

⁸ He talked with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me among you for a possession of a burying-place."

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹ "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

¹² Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.

¹³ He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

¹⁵ "My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead."

¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded

¹⁸ to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, 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 before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.

²⁰ The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.