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, who 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 for my son from 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 for my son Isaac.”

⁵ And the servant said unto him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I 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, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke unto me and who swore unto me, saying, ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land,’ He shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for 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 swore to him concerning that matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels from 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 outside 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 show 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 whom Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast shown 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 from thy pitcher.”

¹⁸ And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she hastened 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 hastened 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 learn whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²² And it came to pass, as the camels were 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, whom she bore 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 worshiped the Lord.

²⁷ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master from His mercy and His truth. I, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

²⁸ And the damsel ran and told those 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 by 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 spoke 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. Why standest thou outside? 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 to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³ And there was meat set 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 bore 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 for my son from 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 for my son.’

³⁹ And I said unto my master, ‘Perhaps 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 from my kindred and from 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 was 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 bore unto him’; and I put the earring upon her face and the bracelets upon her hands.

⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for 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, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped 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 ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and tarried all night; and they arose 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 inquire from 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 who 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 alighted from the camel.

⁶⁵ For she had said unto the servant, “What man is this who walketh in the field to meet us?” And the servant had said, “It is my master”; therefore she took a veil 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 he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

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