Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord ^(A)had blessed Abraham in all things. ² And Abraham said to his servant, ^(B)the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, ^(C)“Put your hand under my thigh, ³ that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that ^(D)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, ^4 (E)but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, ^(A)who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ^(B)‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ ^(C)he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(D)you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant ^(E)put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹² And he said, “O Lord, ^(A)God of my master Abraham, ^(B)please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, ^(C)I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. ^(D)By this^[a] I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(E)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.

²⁷ and said, “Blessed be the Lord, ^(A)the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(B)his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord ^(C)has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” ²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.

²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(D)Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

^48 (A)Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, ^(B)the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way^[a] to take ^(C)the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ Now then, if you are going to ^(D)show steadfast love and faithfulness to 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 has come from the Lord; we cannot ^(E)speak to you bad or good.

⁵⁵ Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” ⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and ^(A)her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac had returned from ^(D)Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. ⁶³ And Isaac went out ^(E)to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was ^(F)comforted after his mother's ^(G)death.