Genesis 24
International Standard Version
Finding a Bride for Isaac
24 Now Abraham had grown old, was well advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. 2 So Abraham instructed his servant, who was the oldest member of his household and in charge of everything he owned, “Make this solemn oath to me[a] 3 as a promise to the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you won’t acquire a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I’m living. 4 Instead, you are to go to my country and to my family and acquire a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 “What if the woman doesn’t want to come back with me to this land?” the servant asked. “Shouldn’t I have your son go to the land from which you came?”
6 “Make sure not to take my son there,” Abraham replied. 7 “The Lord God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and from my family’s land, who spoke to me and promised me ‘I will give this land to your descendants,’ will send his angel ahead of you, and you are to acquire a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman isn’t willing to follow you, then you’ll be free from this oath to me. Just don’t take my son back there!” 9 So the servant made a solemn oath[b] to his master Abraham regarding this matter.
The Servant Encounters Rebekah
10 Then Abraham’s servant took ten camels from his master’s herd of[c] camels and left on his journey with all kinds of gifts from his master’s inventory. Eventually, he traveled as far as Aram-naharaim, Nahor’s home town. 11 As evening approached, he had the camels kneel outside the town at the water well, right about the time when women customarily went out to draw water.
12 That’s when he prayed, “Lord God of my master Abraham, help me to succeed today. Please show your gracious love to my master Abraham. 13 I’ve stationed myself here by the spring as the women of the town come to draw water. 14 May it be that the young woman to whom I ask, ‘Please, lower your jug so that I may drink,’ responds, ‘Have a drink, and I’ll water your camels as well.’ May she be the one whom you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This is how I’ll know that you have shown your gracious love to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah appeared. She was a daughter of Milcah’s son Bethuel. (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.) She approached the well, carrying a jug on her shoulder. 16 The woman was very beautiful, young, and had not had sexual relations with a man. Going down to the spring, she filled her jug and turned for home. 17 Then Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and asked her, “Please, let me have a sip of water from your jug.”
18 “Drink, sir!” she replied as she quickly lowered her jug on her arm to offer him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she also said, “I’ll also draw water[d] for your camels until they’ve had enough to drink.”
20 She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and ran to the well to draw again until she had drawn enough water[e] for all ten of the servant’s[f] camels. 21 The man stared at her in silence, waiting to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. 22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her wrists, weighing 10 shekels and presented them to her.[g]
23 He asked her, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 “I am the daughter of Bethuel,” she answered. “He’s the son of Milcah and Nahor. 25 And yes,” she continued, “we have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place to spend the night.”
26 At this, the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord. 27 “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hasn’t held back his gracious love and faithfulness from my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!”
28 The young woman then ran ahead and informed her mother’s household what had happened.
Rebekah’s Brother Laban
29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to the man and met him[h] at the spring. 30 And so it was, as soon as he saw the nose ring and bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and as soon as he heard what his sister Rebekah was saying about what the man had spoken to her,[i] he went out to the man who was still standing by the camels at the spring! 31 “Come on,” Laban[j] said. “The Lord has blessed you! So why are you standing out here when I’ve prepared some space in the house and a place for the camels?”
32 So the servant went to the house and unbridled the camels. They provided straw and feed for the camels and water for washing his feet and those of the men with him. 33 But when they had prepared a meal and set it in front of him, he said, “I’m not eating until I’ve spoken.”
“Speak up!” Laban[k] exclaimed.
The Servant Relates His Adventures
34 “I’m Abraham’s servant,” he said. 35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become wealthy. He has provided him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah gave birth to my master’s son in her old age, and Abraham[l] has given him everything that belongs to him. 37 My master made me swear this oath: ‘You are not to select a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Canaanites in this land where I live. 38 Instead, you are to go to my father’s household, to my relatives, and choose a wife for my son there.’
39 “So I asked my master, ‘What if the woman won’t come back with me?’
40 “Abraham[m] told me, ‘The Lord, who is with me wherever I go, will send his angel with you to make your journey successful. So you are to choose a wife for my son from my family, from my father’s household. 41 Only then will you be released from fulfilling[n] my oath. However, when you come to my family, if they don’t give her to you, you’ll be released from fulfilling[o] my oath.’
42 “So today I arrived at the spring and prayed, ‘Lord God of my master Abraham, if you wish to make the journey that I have traveled successful, 43 here I am standing by the spring. May it be that the young woman who comes out to draw water, from whom I request a little water from her[p] jug to drink, 44 if she tells me to drink and also draws water for the[q] camels, may she be the woman that the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I had finished praying, along came Rebekah with her jug on her shoulder! She went to the spring and drew some water. I asked her to please let me have a drink. 46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder[r] and told me, ‘Have a drink while I also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also gave my camels water[s] to drink.
47 “That’s when I asked, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She replied, ‘I’m the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore for him.’
“So I gave her a ring for her nose and bracelets for her wrists. 48 I bowed down and worshipped the Lord, and I praised the Lord God of my master Abraham, who led me on the true way to request[t] the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 So now, if you wish to show gracious love and truth toward my master, tell me so. But if not, tell me, so that I may go elsewhere.”[u]
Laban and Bethuel Acquiesce
50 “Since this has come from the Lord,” Laban and Bethuel both replied, “we cannot speak one way or another.[v] 51 So here’s Rebekah—she’s right in front of you. Take her and go, so she can become a wife for your master’s son, just as the Lord has decreed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they had said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out some silver and gold items, along with some clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 He and the men with him ate and drank, and then they spent the night.
The Servant Prepares to Leave
When they got up the next morning, the servant[w] requested, “Send me off to my master.”
55 But her brother and mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days—at least ten—and after that she may go.”
56 “Please don’t delay me,” the servant[x] answered them. “The Lord has made my journey successful. Send me off so I can return to my master.”
57 But they said, “We’ll call the young lady and see what she has to say about this.”[y]
58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?”
“I will go,” she replied.
59 So they sent off their sister Rebekah, along with her personal assistant,[z] Abraham’s servant, and his men. 60 As they were leaving, they all blessed Rebekah by[aa] saying,
“Our sister, may you become the mother of tens of millions![ab]
May your descendants take over
the city gates[ac] of those who hate them.”[ad]
61 Then Rebekah and her young servant women got up, mounted their camels, and followed Abraham’s servant, who took Rebekah and went on his way.
Isaac Marries Rebekah
62 Later on, as Isaac was returning one evening from Beer-lahai-roi[ae] (he had been living in the Negev[af]), 63 Isaac[ag] went out walking[ah] in a field. He looked up, and all of a sudden there were some camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she quickly dismounted from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man coming in the field to meet us?”
“That’s my master,” the servant told her. So she reached for a veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant informed Isaac about everything he had done. 67 Later, Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent that had belonged to his mother Sarah and married her. Isaac loved her, and that’s how he was comforted following the loss of[ai] his mother.
Footnotes
- Genesis 24:2 Lit. Place your hand under my thigh; i.e., to make a solemn promise based on the sanctity of the family and commitment to the family line
- Genesis 24:9 Lit. servant placed his hand under Abraham’s thigh; i.e., to make a solemn promise based on the sanctity of the family and commitment to the family line
- Genesis 24:10 The Heb. lacks herd of
- Genesis 24:19 The Heb. lacks water
- Genesis 24:20 The Heb. lacks enough water
- Genesis 24:20 Lit. of his
- Genesis 24:22 The Heb. lacks and presented them to her
- Genesis 24:29 The Heb. lacks and met him
- Genesis 24:30 Lit. saying, “This is what the man spoke to me!”
- Genesis 24:31 Lit. he
- Genesis 24:33 Lit. He
- Genesis 24:36 Lit. he
- Genesis 24:40 Lit. He
- Genesis 24:41 The Heb. lacks fulfilling
- Genesis 24:41 The Heb. lacks fulfilling
- Genesis 24:43 Lit. your
- Genesis 24:44 Lit. your
- Genesis 24:46 The Heb. lacks shoulder
- Genesis 24:46 The Heb. lacks water
- Genesis 24:48 Lit. to take
- Genesis 24:49 Lit. turn to the right or the left
- Genesis 24:50 Lit. speak bad or good
- Genesis 24:54 Lit. he
- Genesis 24:56 Lit. he
- Genesis 24:57 The Heb. lacks about this
- Genesis 24:59 Lit. nurse; or cook
- Genesis 24:60 The Heb. lacks by
- Genesis 24:60 Lit. of thousands upon ten thousands
- Genesis 24:60 I.e. the centers of power in their cities
- Genesis 24:60 Lit. him
- Genesis 24:62 Lit. The Well of the Living One Who Looks After Me, cf. Gen. 16:13-14
- Genesis 24:62 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Genesis 24:63 Lit. he
- Genesis 24:63 Or meditating
- Genesis 24:67 The Heb. lacks the loss of
Genesis 24
King James Version
24 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
3 And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?
6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
12 And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?
24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.
27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren.
28 And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things.
29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
32 And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him.
33 And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
35 And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.
36 And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.
37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
38 But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.
39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.
40 And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house:
41 Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
42 And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
44 And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son.
45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
48 And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.
49 And now if ye 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.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.
52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.
53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
62 And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
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