Genesis 22-24 (New American Standard Bible)

Genesis 22

The Offering of Isaac

 ¹Now it came about after these things, that ^(A)God tested Abraham, and said to him, "^(B)Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

 ²He said, "Take now ^(C)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(D)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(E)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

 ³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

 ⁴On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

 ⁵Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."

 ⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(F)laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

 ⁷Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(G)lamb for the burnt offering?"

 ⁸Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

 ⁹Then they came to ^(H)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(I)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(J)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

 ¹⁰Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

 ¹¹But ^(K)the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

 ¹²He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now ^(L)I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld ^(M)your son, your only son, from Me."

 ¹³Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

 ¹⁴Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD ^(N)it will be provided."

 ¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

 ¹⁶and said, "^(O)By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

 ¹⁷indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(P)multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(Q)the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(R)your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

 ¹⁸"^(S)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have ^(T)obeyed My voice."

 ^19(U)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

 ²⁰Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, ^(V)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

 ²¹Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram

 ²²and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel."

 ²³Bethuel became the father of ^(W)Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

 ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

Genesis 23

Death and Burial of Sarah

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

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

 ³Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the ^(Y)sons of Heth, saying,

 ⁴"I am ^(Z)a stranger and a sojourner among you; ^(AA)give me a ^(AB)burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

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

 ⁶"Hear us, my lord, you are a ^(AC)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead."

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

 ⁸And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach ^(AD)Ephron the son of Zohar for me,

 ⁹that 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 your presence for a burial site."

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

 ¹¹"No, my lord, hear me; ^(AF)I 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."

 ¹²And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.

 ¹³He 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."

 ¹⁴Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

 ¹⁵"My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred ^(AG)shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead."

 ¹⁶Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(AH)weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.

 ¹⁷So ^(AI)Ephron'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 within all the confines of its border, were deeded over

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

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

 ²⁰So the field and the cave that is in it, were ^(AK)deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.

Genesis 24

A Bride for Isaac

 ¹Now ^(AL)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had ^(AM)blessed Abraham in every way.

 ²Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had ^(AN)charge of all that he owned, "^(AO)Please place your hand under my thigh,

 ³and I will make you swear by the LORD, ^(AP)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(AQ)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(AR)the Canaanites, among whom I live,

 ⁴but you will go to ^(AS)my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

 ⁵The 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?"

 ⁶Then Abraham said to him, "^(AT)Beware that you do not take my son back there!

 ⁷"^(AU)The 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, '^(AV)To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send ^(AW)His 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 ^(AX)be free from this my oath; ^(AY)only do not take my son back there."

 ⁹So the servant ^(AZ)placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

 ¹⁰Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of ^(BA)good things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to ^(BB)the city of Nahor.

 ¹¹He made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^(BC)the well of water at evening time, ^(BD)the time when women go out to draw water.

 ¹²He said, "^(BE)O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please ^(BF)grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.

 ¹³"Behold, ^(BG)I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

 ¹⁴now may it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and who 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(BH)Before he had finished speaking, behold, ^(BI)Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(BJ)Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

 ¹⁶The girl was ^(BK)very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

 ¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "^(BL)Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

 ^18(BM)She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

 ¹⁹Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^(BN)she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."

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

 ^21(BO)Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.

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

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

 ²⁴She said to him, "^(BQ)I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

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

 ²⁶Then the man ^(BR)bowed low and worshiped the LORD.

 ²⁷He said, "^(BS)Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(BT)His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^(BU)the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."

 ²⁸Then ^(BV)the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

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

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

 ³¹And he said, "^(BX)Come in, ^(BY)blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since ^(BZ)I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"

 ³²So the man entered the house. Then ^(CA)Laban 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.

 ³³But 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."

 ³⁴So he said, "I am ^(CB)Abraham's servant.

 ³⁵"The LORD has greatly ^(CC)blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him ^(CD)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

 ³⁶"Now ^(CE)Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and ^(CF)he has given him all that he has.

 ³⁷"^(CG)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 live;

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

 ³⁹"^(CH)I said to my master, 'Suppose the woman does not follow me.'

 ⁴⁰"He said to me, '^(CI)The LORD, before whom I have ^(CJ)walked, will send ^(CK)His 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(CL)then 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 ^(CM)I 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 ^(CN)successful;

 ⁴³behold, ^(CO)I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, "^(CP)Please let me drink a little water from your jar";

 ⁴⁴and 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 ^(CQ)speaking in my heart, behold, ^(CR)Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and ^(CS)I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'

 ⁴⁶"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, '^(CT)Drink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.

 ⁴⁷"^(CU)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'; and I put the ^(CV)ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.

 ⁴⁸"And I ^(CW)bowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, ^(CX)who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

 ⁴⁹"So now if you are going to ^[a](CY)deal 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."

 ⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "^(CZ)The matter comes from the LORD; ^(DA)so 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."

 ⁵²When Abraham's servant heard their words, he ^(DB)bowed himself to the ground before the LORD.

 ⁵³The servant brought out ^(DC)articles 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.

 ⁵⁴Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, "^(DD)Send me away to my master."

 ⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, "^(DE)Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go."

 ⁵⁶He said to them, "Do not delay me, since ^(DF)the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

 ⁵⁷And they said, "We will call the girl and consult her wishes."

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

 ⁵⁹Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^(DG)her nurse with Abraham's servant and his men.

 ⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah and said to her,
         "May you, our sister,
         ^(DH)Become thousands of ten thousands,
         And may ^(DI)your descendants possess
         The gate of those who hate them."

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

Isaac Marries Rebekah

 ⁶²Now Isaac had come from going to ^(DJ)Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in ^(DK)the Negev.

 ⁶³Isaac went out ^(DL)to meditate in the field toward evening; and ^(DM)he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.

 ⁶⁴Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.

 ⁶⁵She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her veil and covered herself.

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

 ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and ^(DN)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^(DO)he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after ^(DP)his mother's death.