Death and Burial of Sarah

1 Now 1Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2 Sarah died in aKiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham 1went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

3 Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the asons of Heth, saying,

4 “I am aa stranger and a sojourner among you; bgive me 1a cburial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

6 “Hear us, my lord, you are a 1amighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.”

7 So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.

8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your 1wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach aEphron the son of Zohar for me,

9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in 1your presence for 2a burial site.”

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even aof all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,

11 “No, my lord, hear me; aI give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”

12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.

13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.”

14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

15 “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred ashekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

16 Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham aweighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the 1hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, 2commercial standard.

17 So aEphron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were 1within all the confines of its border, 2were deeded over

18 to Abraham for a possession ain the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

20 So the field and the cave that is in it, 1were adeeded over to Abraham for 2a burial site by the sons of Heth.

Chapter 24

A Bride for Isaac

1 Now aAbraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had bblessed Abraham in every way.

2 Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had acharge of all that he owned, “bPlease place your hand under my thigh,

3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, athe God of heaven and the God of earth, that you bshall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of cthe Canaanites, among whom I live,

4 but you will go to amy country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?”

6 Then Abraham said to him, “aBeware that you do not take my son back there!

7 “aThe Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘bTo your 1descendants I will give this land,’ He will send cHis angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.

8 “But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will abe free from this my oath; bonly do not take my son back there.”

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

10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of agood things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to 1Mesopotamia, to bthe city of Nahor.

11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by athe well of water at evening time, bthe time when women go out to draw water.

12 He said, “aO Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please 1bgrant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.

13 “Behold, aI am standing by the 1spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

14 now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and 1who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

15 aBefore he had finished speaking, behold, bRebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of cMilcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

16 The girl was avery beautiful, a virgin, and no man had 1had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “aPlease let me drink a little water from your jar.”

18 aShe said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

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

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

21 aMeanwhile, the man was gazing at her 1in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a agold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her 1wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,

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

24 She said to him, “aI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

25 Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.”

26 Then the man abowed low and worshiped the Lord.

27 He said, “aBlessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken bHis lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, cthe Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

28 Then athe girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.

29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was aLaban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.

30 When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s 1wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “2This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

31 And he said, “aCome in, bblessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since cI have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?”

32 So the man entered the house. Then 1aLaban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

33 But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business.” And he said, “Speak on.”

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

35 “The Lord has greatly ablessed my master, so that he has become 1rich; and He has given him bflocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

36 “Now aSarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master 1in her old age, and bhe has given him all that he has.

37 “aMy master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I 1live;

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

39 “aI said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’

40 “He said to me, ‘aThe Lord, before whom I have bwalked, will send cHis angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;

41 athen you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

42 “So aI came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go bsuccessful;

43 behold, aI am standing by the 1spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “bPlease let me drink a little water from your jar”;

44 and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I had finished aspeaking in my heart, behold, bRebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and cI said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘aDrink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.

47 “aThen I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the bring on her nose, and the bracelets on her 1wrists.

48 “And I abowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, bwho had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s 1kinsman for his son.

49 “So now if you are going to 1adeal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”

50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “aThe matter comes from the Lord; bso we cannot speak to you bad or good.

51 “Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he abowed himself to the ground 1before the Lord.

53 The servant brought out aarticles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54 …