Genesis 24

1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. And Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things.2 And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh.3 And I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.7 Jehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spake unto me, and who sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land. He will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.8 And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath. Only thou shalt not bring my son thither again.9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.

10 And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having all goodly things of his master’s in his hand. And he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.11 And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.12 And he said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.13 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water. And the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink. And she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. And thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master.15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher.18 And she said, Drink, my lord. And she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.21 And the man looked stedfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not.22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,23 and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor.25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.26 And the man bowed his head, and worshipped Jehovah.27 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Jehovah hath led me in the way to the house of my master’s brethren.

28 And the damsel ran, and told her mother’s house according to these words.29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the fountain.30 And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me. That he came unto the man. And, behold, he was standing by the camels at the fountain.31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of Jehovah. Wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.32 And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels. And he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him.33 And there was set food before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.34 And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.35 And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly. And he is become great. And he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses.36 And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old. And unto him hath he given all that he hath.37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell.38 But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.40 And he said unto me, Jehovah, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way. And thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house.41 Then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my kindred. And if they give her not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath.42 And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go.43 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water. And let it come to pass, that the maiden that cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher to drink.44 And she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels. Let the same be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my master’s son.45 And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. And she went down unto the fountain, and drew. And I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. So I drank, and she made the camels drink also.47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him. And I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.48 And I bowed my head, and worshipped Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son.49 And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me. That I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from Jehovah. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good.51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as Jehovah hath spoken.52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah.53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten. After that she shall go.56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them.

61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.62 And Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi. For he dwelt in the land of the South.63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming.64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel.65 And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master. And she took her veil, and covered herself.66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Genesis 24

The Wife for Isaac

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years,t and the Lord had blessed himt in everything.2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior onet in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thighs3 so that I may make you solemnly promiset by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquiret a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

4 You must go instead to my country and to my relativest to findt a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with met to this land? Must I thent take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6 “Be carefult never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him.t7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives,t promised me with a solemn oath,t ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angelt before you so that you may findt a wife for my son from there.8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you,t you will be frees from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes.t
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal.t He journeyedt to the region of Aram Naharaimts and the city of Nahor.11 He made the camels kneel down by the wellt outside the city. It was evening,t the time when the women would go out to draw water.12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today.t Be faithfult to my master Abraham.13 Here I am, standing by the spring,t and the daughters of the peoplet who live in the town are coming out to draw water.

14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’s In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.”t
15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekaht with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor).t16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her.t She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.17 Abraham’s servantt ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly loweringt her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.19 When she had done so,t she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.”20 She quickly emptiedt her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels.

21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determinet if the Lord had made his journey successfult or not.
22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekas and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekelss and gave them to her.t

23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked.t “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.t

25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added,t “and room for yout to spend the night.”
26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord,

27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful lovet for my master! The Lord has led met to the houset of my master’s relatives!”t
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all aboutt these things.29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.)t Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ringt and heard his sister Rebekah say,t “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standingt by the camels near the spring.

31 Laban said to him,t “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord!s Why are you standing out here when I have preparedt the house and a place for the camels?”
32 So Abraham’s servantt went to the house and unloadedt the camels. Straw and feed were givent to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet.t

33 When food was served,t he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.”t “Tell us,” Laban said.st
34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy.t The Lordt has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to himt when she was old,t and my mastert has given him everything he owns.37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to findt a wife for my son.’39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to got with me?’t40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked,t will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.41 You will be free from your oatht if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful,t may events unfold as follows:t43 Here I am, standing by the spring.t Whent the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.”

44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart,t along came Rebekaht with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’t I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughtert of my master’s brother for his son.

49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.”t
50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing.t Our wishes are of no concern.t

51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may becomet the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”t
52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.53 Then het brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.t
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”t55 But Rebekah’st brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.”56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lordt has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may returnt to my master.”57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”t

58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you wantt to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:t
“Our sister, may you become the motherts of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholdst of their enemies.”

61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away witht the man. So Abraham’s servantt took Rebekah and left.
62 Nowt Isaac came fromt Beer Lahai Roi,s fort he was living in the Negev.ts63 Het went out to relaxt in the field in the early evening.t Then he looked upt and saw thatt there were camels approaching.64 Rebekah looked upt and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel

65 and askedt Abraham’s servant,t “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied.t So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.

67 Then Isaac brought Rebekaht into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took hert as his wife and loved her.t So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.t