Genesis 24
1
And Abraham was old, going on in days, and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all
things. 2 And Abraham said to his slave, oldest in his house, the one who
governed in all that was to him, Please put your hand under my thigh. 3 And I
will cause you to swear by Jehovah, God of the heavens and God of the earth,
that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite,
among whom I dwell. 4 But you shall go to my country and to my kindred and take
a wife for my son, for Isaac. 5 And the slave said to him, Perhaps the woman
will not be willing to go after me to this land; shall I indeed bring back your
son into the land from out of which you came? 6 And Abraham said to him, Take
heed for yourself that you not take my son back there. 7 Jehovah, God of
Heaven, who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my birth,
and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, I will give this land to your
Seed; He shall send His Angel before you, and you shall take a wife from there
for my son. 8 And if the woman will not be willing to go after you, then you
shall be clear from this oath of mine; only do not take my son back there. 9
And the slave put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore to
him concerning this thing. 10 And the slave took ten camels from his master's
camels and left. And all his master's goods were in his hand. And he rose up
and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel
outside the city, by a well of water at the time of the evening, the time that
women go out to draw. 12 And he said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, I
pray, cause her to meet before me this day, and show kindness to my master
Abraham. 13 Behold! I am standing by the well of water, and the daughters of
the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 And let the girl to whom I
shall speak this: Please let down your pitcher that I may drink; and she will
say, Drink and also I will water your camels; let it be her You have approved
for Your servant, for Isaac. And by this I shall know that You have shown
kindness to my master. 15 And it happened before he had finished speaking.
Behold! Rebekah came out, she who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the
wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 And
the girl was very good of form, a virgin, a man not having known her. And she
went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up. 17 And the slave ran
to meet her and said, Please let me sip a little water from your pitcher. 18
And she said, Drink, my lord. And she hurried and let down her pitcher on her
hand and gave him a drink. 19 And she finished giving drink to him. And she
said, I also will draw for your camels until they have finished drinking. 20
And she hurried and emptied her pitcher into the trough. And she again ran to
the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. 21 And watching her, the man
kept silent in order to know if Jehovah had prospered his way, or not. 22 And
it happened when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a golden ring,
its weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her hands, ten of gold their
weighing. 23 And he said, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room
for us to stay in your father's house? 24 And she said to him, I am the
daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said
to him, Both straw and fodder are plentiful with us, also a room to pass the
night. 26 And the man bowed and worshiped Jehovah. 27 And he said, Blessed be
Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not left off His kindness and His
truth with my master, I being in the way, Jehovah guided me to the house of the
brother of my master. 28 And the girl ran and told these things to the house of
her mother. 29 And Rebekah had a brother, his name being Laban. And Laban ran
out to the man, to the fountain. 30 And it happened when he saw the ring, and
the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard his sister's words,
Rebekah, saying, So the man spoke to me, then he came to the man and saw him
standing by the camels at the fountain. 31 And he said, Come in, blessed of
Jehovah! Why are you standing outside? I have prepared the house and a place
for the camels. 32 And the man came into the house. And he unloaded the camels
and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the
feet of the men who were with him. 33 And food was set before him to eat, but
he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my message. And he said, Speak. 34
And he said, I am the slave of Abraham. 35 And Jehovah has blessed my master
much, and he is great. And He has given to him flocks and herds, and silver and
gold, and male slaves and slave-girls, and camels and asses. 36 And my master's
wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and he has given to him all that
is his. 37 And my master caused me to swear, saying, You shall not take a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I live. 38 But
you shall go to the house of my father and to my family and you shall take a
wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not go
after me. 40 And he said to me, Jehovah, before whom I walk, will send His
Angel with you and prosper your way. And you shall take a wife for my son from
my family, from my father's house. 41 Then you shall be released from my oath,
when you have come to my family, and if they do not give one to you; then you
shall be released from my oath. 42 And today I came to the well. And I said,
Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, I pray, if You will, prosper the way in
which I am about to go. 43 Behold! I stand at the well of water, and when the
virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, Please let me drink a little
water from your pitcher, 44 and she says to me, Both you drink and also I will
draw for your camels, may she be the woman whom Jehovah has approved for my
master's son. 45 Before I had finished speaking within my heart, even behold,
Rebekah was coming out, her pitcher on her shoulder. And she went down to the
well and drew. And I said to her, Please let me drink. 46 And she hurried and
let down her pitcher from her and said, Drink, and I also will water your
camels. And I drank, and also she watered the camels. 47 And I asked her and I
said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel the son of
Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him. And I put the ring on her nose, and the
bracelets on her hands. 48 And I bowed and worshiped Jehovah, and I blessed
Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the true way, to take
for his son the daughter of the brother of my master. 49 And now, if you are
going to do kindness and truth with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me so
that I may turn to the right or to the left. 50 And Laban and Bethuel answered
and said, The thing has come from Jehovah; we are not able to speak to you good
or evil. 51 Behold! Rebekah is before you, take her and go. And let her become
the wife of the son of your master, as Jehovah has spoken. 52 And it happened
when the slave of Abraham heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth to
Jehovah. 53 And the slave brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold and
garments, and he gave to Rebekah. And he gave precious things to her brother and
to her mother. 54 And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him; and
they stayed the night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me
away to my master. 55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the girl stay
with us, perhaps ten days. Afterwards she may go. 56 And he said to them, Do
not delay me, for Jehovah has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to
my master. 57 And they said, we will call the girl and ask of her mouth. 58 And
they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I
will go. 59 And they sent away their sister Rebekah, and her nurse, and
Abraham's slave and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, Our
sister, may you become myriads of thousands, and may your seed possess the gate
of ones hating them. 61 And Rebekah and her young women rose up, and they rode
on the camels and went after the man. And the slave took Rebekah and went. 62
And Isaac had come from the gate of the Well of the Living One My Beholder. And
he was dwelling in the land of the Negeb. 63 And Isaac had gone out to meditate
in the field as it turned evening. And he raised his eyes and looked. And
behold, camels were coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted her eyes and she saw Isaac.
And she dismounted from the camel. 65 And she said to the slave, Who is this
man walking in the field to meet us? And the slave said, It is my master. And
she took the veil and covered herself. 66 And the slave told Isaac all the
things that he had done. 67 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother
Sarah. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother.