Genesis 24

A Bride for Isaac

24Now Abraham ^awas old, well advanced in age; and the Lord ^bhad blessed Abraham in all things. ²So Abraham said ^cto the oldest servant of his house, who ^druled over all that he had, “Please, ^eput your hand under my thigh, ³and 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; ^4hbut you shall go ⁱto 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 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. ⁸And 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.” 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, ⁿfor all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to ^othe city of Nahor. ¹¹And 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. ¹²Then he ^qsaid, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please ^rgive me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, here ^sI stand by the well of water, and ^tthe 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 ^uby this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶Now 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. ¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

^18zSo 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 ^athe Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²So 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, ²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us ⁴to lodge?”

²⁴So she said to him, ^c“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 ^dbowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷And 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.” ²⁸So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^hLaban, 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, ⁱO blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

³²Then 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. ³³Food 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.”

³⁴So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵The 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. ³⁶And 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. ³⁷Now 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; ^38qbut you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ^39rAnd I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ^40sBut 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. ^41uYou 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, ^43wbehold, 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 has appointed for my master’s son.’

^45x“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.’ 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. ^48zAnd 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. ⁴⁹Now 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.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, ^c“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot ^dspeak to you either bad or good. ^51eHere is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵²And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that ^fhe worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³Then the servant brought out ^gjewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave ^hprecious 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, ⁱ“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 ⁶hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

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 ^jand her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

“Our sister, may you become

^kThe mother of thousands of ten thousands;

^lAnd 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 ^mBeer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. ⁶³And Isaac went out ⁿto 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 ^oshe 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 ^ptook Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac ^qwas comforted after his mother’s death.