Genesis 23:1–24:67
23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in aKirjath Arba (that is, bHebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of cHeth, saying, 4 d“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. eGive me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord: You are fa 1mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and 2meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of gMachpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who hentered at the gate of his city, saying, 11 i“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; 13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred jshekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” 16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham kweighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So lthe field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that is in it mwere deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
24 Now Abraham awas old, well advanced in age; and the Lord bhad blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said cto the oldest servant of his house, who druled over all that he had, “Please, eput your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you fswear 1by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that gyou will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 hbut you shall go ito my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 And 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?”
6 But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who jtook me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, k‘To your 2descendants I give this land,’ lHe will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then myou will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, nfor all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to othe city of Nahor. 11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time pwhen women go out to draw water. 12 Then he qsaid, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please rgive me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here sI stand by the well of water, and tthe daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now 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 uby this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 And it happened, vbefore he had finished speaking, that behold, wRebekah, 3who was born to Bethuel, son of xMilcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman ywas very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18 zSo she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether athe Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden bnose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us 4to lodge?”
24 So she said to him, c“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”
26 Then the man dbowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27 And he said, e“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken fHis mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord gled me to the house of my master’s brethren.” 28 So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was hLaban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30 So 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. 31 And he said, “Come in, iO blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”
32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and jprovided straw and feed for the camels, and water to kwash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, l“I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”
And he said, “Speak on.”
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord mhas blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife nbore a son to my master when she was old; and oto him he has given all that he has. 37 Now my master pmade me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 qbut you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 rAnd I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40 sBut he said to me, ‘The Lord, tbefore whom I walk, will send His angel with you and 5prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. 41 uYou 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, v‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, 43 wbehold, 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,” 44 and she says to me, “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 x“But before I had finished yspeaking 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.’ 46 And 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. 47 Then 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. 48 zAnd I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to atake the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will bdeal 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, c“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot dspeak to you either bad or good. 51 eHere is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”
52 And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that fhe worshiped the Lord, bowing …