Bible Verses About Land

ADONAI said to Avram, after Lot had moved away from him, "Look all around you from where you are, to the north, the south, the east and the west.

All the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever,

and I will make your descendants as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth - so that if a person can count the specks of dust on the earth, then your descendants can be counted.

Get up and walk through the length and breadth of the land, because I will give it to you."

Then he got up from his dead one and said to the sons of Het,

"I am a foreigner living as an alien with you; let me have a burial site with you, so that I can bury my dead wife.

The sons of Het answered Avraham,

"Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us, so choose any of our tombs to bury your dead - not one of us would refuse you his tomb for burying your dead."

Avraham got up, bowed before the people of the land, the sons of Het,

and spoke with them. "If it is your desire to help me bury my dead, then listen to me: ask 'Efron the son of Tzochar

to give me the cave of Makhpelah, which he owns, the one at the end of his field. He should sell it to me in your presence at its full value; then I will have a burial site of my own."

'Efron the Hitti was sitting among the sons of Het, and he gave Avraham his answer in the presence of the sons of Het who belonged to the ruling council of the city:

"No, my lord, listen to me: I'm giving you the field, with its cave - I'm giving it to you. In the presence of my people I give it to you."

Avraham bowed before the people of the land

and spoke to 'Efron in their hearing: "Please be good enough to listen to me. I will pay the price of the field; accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there."

But 'Efron answered Avraham

"My lord, listen to me. A plot of land worth 400 silver shekels - what is that between me and you? Just bury your dead."

Avraham got the point of what 'Efron had said, so he weighed out for 'Efron the amount of money he had specified in the presence of the sons of Het, 400 silver shekels of the weight accepted among merchants [ten pounds].

Thus the field of 'Efron in Makhpelah, which is by Mamre - the field, its cave and all the trees in and around it - were deeded

to Avraham as his possession in the presence of the sons of Het who belonged to the ruling council of the city.

So Yosef acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, as one by one the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine weighed on them so severely. Thus the land became the property of Pharaoh.

As for the people, he reduced them to serfdom city by city, from one end of Egypt's territory to the other.

Only the priests' land did he not acquire, because the priests were entitled to provisions from Pharaoh, and they ate from what Pharaoh provided them; therefore they did not sell their land.

Then Yosef said to the people, "As of today I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you to sow the land.

When harvest time comes, you are to give twenty percent to Pharaoh; eighty percent will be yours to keep for seed to plant in the fields, as well as for your food and for that of your households and your little ones."