Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from his dead, and he spoke to the Hittites [and] said, "I [am] a stranger and an alien among you; give to me {my own burial site} among you so that I may bury my dead from before me. And the Hittites answered Abraham [and] said to him, read more.
"Hear us, my lord, you [are] a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us {will withhold his burial site} from you [for] burying your dead." And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites. And he spoke with them, saying, "{If you are willing} [that] I bury my dead from before me, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may sell to me the cave of Machpelah which {belongs to him}, which [is] at the end of his field. At full value let him sell [it] to me in your midst as {a burial site}." Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said, "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which [is] in it, I [also] give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead." And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "{If only you will hear me}--I give the price of the field. Take [it] from me that I may bury my dead there." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him "My lord, hear me. A [piece of] land [worth] four hundred shekels of silver--what [is] that between me and you? Bury your dead." Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver {at the merchants' current rate}. So the field of Ephron which [was] in the Machpelah, which [was] near Mamre--the field and the cave which [was] in it, with all the trees that [were] in the field, which [were] within all its surrounding boundaries--{passed} to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city. And thus afterward Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah near Mamre; that [is] Hebron, in the land of Canaan And the field and the cave which [was] in it {passed} to Abraham as {a burial site} from the Hittites.

And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." read more.
And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal.

And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that [was] at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels. And I signed on the letter and sealed [it], and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales. Then I took the deed of the purchase, the sealed [copy containing] the commandments and the rules, together with the [one] that was open. read more.
And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, {in the presence of} Hanamel, [the son of] my uncle, and {in the presence of} the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, {in the presence of} the Judeans who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. And I commanded Baruch {in their presence}, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."


And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." read more.
And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.


"When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a {man of another family}; her brother-in-law {shall have sex with her}, and he shall take her {to himself} as wife, and he shall perform his duty as brother-in-law [with respect to] her. And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.' read more.
Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him, and [if] he persists and says, '{I do not desire to} marry her' [then] his sister-in-law shall go near him before the eyes of the elders, and she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall {declare} and she shall say, 'This is how it is done to the man who does not build the house of his brother.' And his {family} shall be called in Israel, 'The house where the sandal was pulled off.'

saying, "Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us if someone's brother dies having a wife, and this man is childless, that his brother should take the wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother."

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up," for {he feared he would also die} like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father.

And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance."

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone's brother dies and he leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, that his brother should take the wife and {father} descendants for his brother. There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife. And [when he] died, he did not leave descendants. And the second took her, and he died without leaving descendants. And the third likewise. read more.
And the seven did not leave descendants. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise, {whose} wife will she be? For the seven had her [as] wife.


And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat. And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. read more.
And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today." And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

Then Yahweh said to me, "Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a common stylus pen: Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah." And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahweh said to me, "Call his name Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz.


" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. read more.
But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee. However, village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered {open country}; [there] is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out [of the buyer's hand]. " 'As for the cities of the Levites, [that is], the houses in their property's cities, it shall be {a lasting redemption} for the Levites. And whatever [anyone] redeems from the Levites then must go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, [including] a house's selling {in his city's property}, because the houses in the cities of the Levites [are] their property in the midst of the {Israelites}. But a field of their cities' pastureland must not be sold, because {it is their property for all time}.

"Speak to the {Israelites}, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow according to your proper value [of] persons to Yahweh, if your proper value is [for] a male from {twenty years of age} up to {sixty years of age}, then your proper value shall be fifty shekels [of] money according to the sanctuary's shekel. But if it [is for] a female, then your proper value shall be thirty shekels. read more.
And if from {five years of age} up to {twenty years of age}, then your proper value shall be twenty shekels [for] the male and ten shekels for the female. And if from {a month of age} up to {five years of age}, then your proper value shall be five shekels [of] money [for] the male, and your proper value for the female [shall be] three shekels [of] money. And if from {sixty years of age} and above: if a male, then your proper value shall be fifteen shekels; and for the female, ten shekels. But if he [is] poorer than your proper value, then he shall present himself {before} the priest, and the priest shall set a value [on] him; the priest shall value him {according to} what the person who made a vow {can afford}. " 'And if [it is] a domestic animal from which they present an offering for Yahweh, all that he gives from it for Yahweh shall be a holy object. He shall not replace it, nor shall he exchange it, [either] good with bad or bad with good; and if he indeed exchanges a domestic animal with a domestic animal, then {it and its substitution shall be a holy object}. But if [it is] any unclean animal from which they may not present an offering for Yahweh, then he shall present the animal {before} the priest. And the priest shall set a value on it, {either good or bad}; as the priest [sets] your proper value, so it shall be. And if he indeed wants to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of it onto your proper value. " 'And if a man consecrates his house [as] a holy object for Yahweh, then the priest shall set a value on it, {either good or bad}; [just] as the priest sets a value on it, so it shall remain. But if the one who consecrates [it] wants to redeem his house, then he shall add a fifth of your proper value's money onto it, and it shall be his. " 'And if a man consecrates {some of} his property's fields for Yahweh, then your proper value shall be {in accordance with its seed requirements}: a homer of barley seed for fifty shekels of money. If he consecrates his field from the Year of Jubilee, it shall stand as your proper value. But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the money for him {according to the number of years} that are left over until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your proper value. And if he indeed redeems the field that is consecrated, then he shall add a fifth of your proper value's money onto it, and it shall stand for him. And if he does not redeem the field and if he sells the field to another man, it may not be redeemed again, and the field shall be a holy object for Yahweh when it goes out in the Jubilee, like a devoted field; {it shall be the priest's property}. " 'And if he consecrates for Yahweh his acquired field that [is] not the field of his [inherited] possession, then the priest shall calculate for him the {amount} of your proper value until the year of the Jubilee, and he shall give your proper value on that day [as] a holy object for Yahweh. In the Year of the Jubilee the field shall return to the one who bought it from him, to the one whose property the land [is]. And every proper value of yours shall be in the sanctuary's shekel--the shekel shall be twenty gerahs. " 'However, a man shall not consecrate a firstborn among livestock, which belongs as firstborn to Yahweh; whether an ox {or} small livestock, it is for Yahweh. And if [it is] among the unclean animals, then he shall ransom [it] according to your proper value, and he shall add a fifth of its [value] onto it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your proper value. However, anything devoted that a man has devoted to Yahweh {from all that he has}, from human or animal, or from the field of his property, may not be sold, and it may not be redeemed; anything devoted [is] {a most holy thing} for Yahweh. Anyone devoted who is devoted from {human beings} cannot be ransomed--he shall surely be put to death. " 'And any tithe of the land from the land's seed [or] from the fruit of the trees [is] for Yahweh; it [is] a holy object for Yahweh. And if a man indeed redeems from his tithe, he shall add a fifth of its [value] onto it. As for every tithe of cattle or of the flock, all which crosses under the rod, the tenth shall be a holy object for Yahweh. He shall not inspect between [the] good and [the] bad, and he shall not exchange it; but if he indeed exchanges it, then {it and its substitution shall be} a holy object--it shall not be redeemed.'"

And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." read more.
And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today."


Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized. And Abimelech said, "I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard [of it] except for today." And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave [them] to Abimelech. And the two of them {made} a covenant. read more.
Then Abraham set [off] seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What [is the meaning of] these seven ewe-lambs that you have set [off] by themselves?" And he said, "You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand {as proof on my behalf} that I dug this well."

Yet you have said to me, Lord Yahweh, "Buy for yourself the field with the money, and call witnesses as witness," though the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.'"

They will buy fields with money, and they will sign the deeds, and they will seal [them], and they will call witnesses as witness in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes,' {declares} Yahweh."

And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that [was] at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels. And I signed on the letter and sealed [it], and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales. Then I took the deed of the purchase, the sealed [copy containing] the commandments and the rules, together with the [one] that was open. read more.
And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, {in the presence of} Hanamel, [the son of] my uncle, and {in the presence of} the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, {in the presence of} the Judeans who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

"No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which [is] in it, I [also] give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver {at the merchants' current rate}. So the field of Ephron which [was] in the Machpelah, which [was] near Mamre--the field and the cave which [was] in it, with all the trees that [were] in the field, which [were] within all its surrounding boundaries--{passed} to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city.

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat. And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. read more.
And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.


And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." read more.
And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.