Genesis 24

¹Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord

²So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,

³and I will make you swear by the Lord

⁴but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.

⁷The Lord

⁸And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”

⁹So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

¹¹And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.

¹²Then he said, “O Lord

¹³Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.

¹⁶Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.

¹⁹And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”

²⁰Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

²¹And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord

²²So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,

²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

²⁴So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.”

²⁵Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”

²⁶Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord

²⁷And he said, “Blessed be the Lord

²⁸So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.

³⁰So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.

³¹And he said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord

³²Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

³⁵The Lord

³⁶And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.

³⁷Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;

³⁸but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’

³⁹And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’

⁴⁰But he said to me, ‘The Lord

⁴¹You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴²“And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord

⁴³behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”

⁴⁴and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the Lord

⁴⁵“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

⁴⁷Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

⁴⁸And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord

⁴⁹Now if you 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.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the Lord

⁵¹Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord

⁵²And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the Lord

⁵³Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the Lord

⁵⁷So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.”

⁵⁸Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶²Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.

⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.

⁶⁴Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;

⁶⁵for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.