Genesis 24
1NOW Abraham was old and far advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in all things.
2And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his family and who was ruler over all that he had, Put thy hand under my thigh,
3and let me cause thee to swear by the Lord the God of heaven and the God of earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son Isaak, of the daughters of the Chananites among whom I dwell;
4but that thou wilt go to the land where I was born, and to my tribe and take thence a wife for my son Isaak.
5And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to come with me to this land; shall I take back thy son to the land from which thou camest?
6Whereupon Abraham said to him, Beware that thou take not back my son thither.
7The Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my nativity; who spoke to me, and who swore to me saying, To thee I will give this land and to thy seed; he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take thence a wife for my son.
8But if the woman will not come with thee into this land, thou shalt be absolved from this my oath, save that thou must not take my son back thither.
9Then the servant put his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh, and swore to him respecting this matter.
10And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master; and of all the goods of his master which were in his charge, and arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.
11And he made his camels lie down without the city, by the well of water, in the evening, when the women come out to draw water;
12and said, O Lord the God of my master Abraham, prosper the way before me this day; and shew thy kindness to my master Abraham.
13Behold I stand by this well of water and the daughters of the inhabitants of the city will come out to draw water.
14Now let the virgin to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher that I may drink; and who shall say, Drink thou, and I will give water also to thy camels till they have all done drinking; let her be the woman whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaak. And by this I shall know that thou hast dealt mercifully with my master Abraham.
15And before he had finished this mental speech, lo! Rebekka the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, the wife of Nachor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.
16Now the damsel was of a very beautiful countenance and was a virgin. No man had known her. So when she had gone down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up,
17the servant ran to meet her and said, Let me drink a little water out of thy pitcher.
18Upon which she said, Drink, my lord, and hastened to let down the pitcher on her arm and let him drink till he was satisfied.
19Then she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they shall have all drunk.
20And she hastened and emptied the pitcher into the watering trough and ran to the well to draw more and drew water for all the camels.
21And the man observed her attentively and held his peace, that he might know whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
22And when all the camels had done drinking, the man took earrings of gold of about a drachm weight, and a pair of bracelets for her hands, the weight of which was ten pieces of gold,
23and he asked her saying, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, Is there room at thy father’s house for us to lodge?
24And she said, I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
25Moreover she said to him, We have plenty of straw and provender and room to lodge in.
26Then the man being satisfied, worshipped the Lord
27and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not withdrawn his kindness and his truth from my master. The Lord hath indeed given me a prosperous journey to the house of my master’s brother.
28Upon this the damsel ran to her mother’s house and told all these things.
29Now Rebekka had a brother whose name was Laban. And Laban ran out to the man at the well.
30When he saw the earrings and bracelets in his sister’s hands and heard all the words of Rebekka his sister, saying, Thus spake the man to me, he went to the man who was standing by his camels at the well
31and said to him, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why hast thou tarried without? I have the house ready and a place for the camels.
32So the man went in to the family, and Laban unsaddled the camels, and gave straw and provender to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him,
33and set bread before them to eat. But the man said I cannot eat till I have told my business. And Laban said, speak.
34Thereupon the man said, I am Abraham’s servant,
35The Lord indeed hath blessed my master exceedingly, so that he is become great. He hath given him flocks and herds and silver and gold, men servants and maid servants, camels and asses.
36And Sarah, the wife of my master, hath born one son to my master when he was old, and he hath given him all that belonged to him.
37And my master made me swear saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Chananites in whose land I sojourn;
38but thou shalt go to the house of my father and to my tribe and take thence a wife for my son.
39Whereupon I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not come with me.
40And he said to me, The Lord God, to Whom I have been well pleasing in His sight, will send His angel with thee, and make thy journey prosperous, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from my tribe and from my father’s house.
41On this condition only thou shalt be absolved from my curse; when thou hast gone to my tribe, if they will not give thee, then shalt thou be clear from my oath.
42Now, when I came to-day to the well, I said, O Lord the God of my master Abraham, if Thou prosperest the journey in which I am now engaged,
43Behold I have stopped at this well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water,
44Let the virgin to whom I shall say, Let me drink a little water out of thy pitcher; and who shall say to me, Drink thou, and I will draw water for thy camels; Let her be the wife whom the Lord hath provided for His servant Isaak; and by this I shall know that thou hast dealt mercifully with my master Abraham.
45And before I had finished this my address in thought, straightway Rebekka came with the pitcher on her shoulder and went down to the well and drew water, and I said to her, Let me drink.
46Upon which she speedily let down the pitcher on her arm, and said, Drink thou, and I will water thy camels. So I drank. And when she had watered the camels,
47I asked her saying, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me. And she said, I am the daughter of Bathuel the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. Then I put the ear rings on her and the bracelets on her hands, and being well pleased,
48I worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord the God of my master Abraham, who had prospered me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.
49Now therefore, if you deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me; that I may turn either to the right or left.
50In reply to which, Laban and Bathuel said, This matter hath proceeded from the Lord. We cannot gainsay thee, be it good or bad.
51Behold Rebekka is before thee. Take her and go and let her be the wife of thy master’s son, as the Lord hath spoken.
52And when Abraham’s servant heard these words, he worshipped the Lord on the ground.
53Then the servant brought out jewels of silver and gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekka, and made presents to her brother and to her mother.
54And when he and the men who were with him had eaten and drank, they went to rest. And he arose early next morning and said, Dismiss me that I may return to my master.
55But her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel stay with us about ten days and then she shall go.
56And he said to them, Do not detain me, seeing the Lord hath prospered my journey as far as it respecteth me. Send me away that I may go back to my master.
57Whereupon they said, Let us call our child and ask what she saith.
58So they called Rebekka and said to her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
59Then they sent away their sister Rebekka and what belonged to her, and the servant of Abraham and his attendants.
60And they blessed Rebekka and said to her, Thou art our sister. Mayest thou become thousands of myriads and may thy seed inherit the cities of their enemies.
61Then arose Rebekka and her maids, and mounting the camels they went with the man. And the servant took Rebekka and departed.
62Now Isaak had travelled through the wilderness to the well of Vision, and dwelt in the south country.
63And in the evening Isaak went out into the plain to meditate; and raising his eyes he saw camels coming.
64Rebekka also having raised her eyes, saw Isaak and alighted from her camel.
65She had said to the servant, What man is that coming in the plain to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master. Whereupon she took her veil and covered herself.
66And the servant told Isaak all that he had done. And Isaak went to his mother’s house and took Rebekka, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaak was comforted for the loss of his mother Sarah.