Genesis 24

¹And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything.

²And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his, ‘Please place your hand under my thigh.

³And I will adjure you by the Lord, the God of the heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose midst I dwell.

⁴But you shall go to my land and to my birthplace, and you shall take a wife for my son, for Isaac.’

⁵And the servant said to him, ‘Perhaps the woman will not wish to go after me to this land. Shall I return your son to the land from which you came?’

⁶And Abraham said to him, ‘Beware, lest you return my son back there.

⁷The Lord, God of the heavens, Who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke about me, and Who swore to me, saying, 'To your seed will I give this land' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸And if the woman will not wish to go after you, you will be absolved of this, my oath; only do not return my son back there.’

⁹And the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and he swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰And the servant took ten camels of his master's camels, and he went, and all the best of his master was in his hand; and he arose, and he went to Aram naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

¹¹And he made the camels kneel outside the city beside the well of water, at eventide, at the time the maidens go out to draw water.

¹²And he said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please cause to happen to me today, and perform loving kindness with my master, Abraham.

¹³Behold, I am standing by the water fountain, and the daughters of the people of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴And it will be, [that] the maiden to whom I will say, 'Lower your pitcher and I will drink,' and she will say, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels,' her have You designated for Your servant, for Isaac, and through her may I know that You have performed loving kindness with my master.’

¹⁵Now he had not yet finished speaking, and behold, Rebecca came out, who had been born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and her pitcher was on her shoulder.

¹⁶Now the maiden was of very comely appearance, a virgin, and no man had been intimate with her, and she went down to the fountain, and she filled her pitcher and went up.

¹⁷And the servant ran toward her, and he said, ‘Please let me sip a little water from your pitcher.’

¹⁸And she said, ‘Drink, my lord.’ And she hastened and lowered her pitcher to her hand, and she gave him to drink.

¹⁹And she finished giving him to drink, and she said, ‘I will also draw for your camels, until they will have finished drinking.’

²⁰And she hastened, and she emptied her pitcher into the trough, and she ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels.

²¹And the man was astonished at her, standing silent, [waiting] to know whether the Lord had caused his way to prosper or not.

²²Now it came about, when the camels had finished drinking, [that] the man took a golden nose ring, weighing half [a shekel], and two bracelets for her hands, weighing ten gold [shekels].

²³And he said, ‘Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there place for us for lodging in your father's house?’

²⁴And she said to him, ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.’

²⁵And she said to him, ‘Both straw and fodder are plentiful with us; [there is] also a place to lodge.’

²⁶And the man kneeled and prostrated himself to the Lord.

²⁷And he said, ‘Blessed is the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, Who has not forsaken His loving kindness and His truth from my master. As for me, the Lord led me on the road to the house of my master's kinsmen.’

²⁸And the maiden ran, and she told her mother's house what had happened.

²⁹Now Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran to the man outside, to the fountain.

³⁰And it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebecca, saying, ‘So did the man speak to me, ‘ that he came to the man, and behold, he was standing over the camels at the fountain.

³¹And he said, ‘Come, you who are blessed of the Lord. Why should you stand outside, when I have cleared the house, and a place for the camels?’

³²So the man came to the house and unmuzzled the camels, and he gave straw and fodder to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³And [food] was set before him to eat, but he said, ‘I will not eat until I have spoken my words.’ And he said, ‘Speak.’

³⁴And he said, ‘I am Abraham's servant.

³⁵And the Lord blessed my master exceedingly, and he became great, and He gave him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, man servants and maid servants, camels and donkeys.

³⁶And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master after she had become old, and he gave him all that he possesses.

³⁷And my master adjured me, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell.

³⁸Instead, you must go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.'

³⁹And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me?'

⁴⁰And he said to me, 'The Lord, before Whom I walked, will send His angel with you and make your way prosper, and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house.

⁴¹You will then be absolved from my oath, when you come to my family, and if they do not give [her] to you, you will be absolved from my oath.'

⁴²So I came today to the fountain, and I said, 'O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if You desire to prosper my way upon which I am going

⁴³Behold, I am standing by the water fountain. When a maiden comes out to draw [water], I will say to her, 'Please, give me a little water to drink from your pitcher.'

⁴⁴And [if] she will say to me, 'You too may drink, and I will also draw water for your camels,' she is the woman whom the Lord has designated for my master's son.'

⁴⁵I had not yet finished speaking thus in my heart, and behold, Rebecca came out with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she went down to the fountain and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me to drink.'

⁴⁶And she hastened and lowered her pitcher from upon her, and she said, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels.' So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

⁴⁷And I asked her, and I said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she replied, 'The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' And I placed the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands.

⁴⁸And I kneeled and prostrated myself to the Lord, and I blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, Who led me on the true path, to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.

⁴⁹And now, if you will do loving kindness and truth with my master, tell me, and if not, tell me, and I will turn to the right or to the left.’

⁵⁰And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, ‘The matter has emanated from the Lord. We cannot speak to you either bad or good.

⁵¹Behold Rebecca is before you, take [her] and go, and let her be a wife for your master's son, as the Lord has spoken.’

⁵²Now it came to pass when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he prostrated himself on the ground to the Lord.

⁵³And the servant took out silver articles and golden articles and garments, and he gave [them] to Rebecca, and he gave delicacies to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and they lodged, and they arose in the morning, and he said, ‘Send me away to my master.’

⁵⁵And her brother and her mother said, ‘Let the maiden stay with us a year or ten [months]; afterwards she will go.’

⁵⁶But he said to them, ‘Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my way prosper. Send me away, and I will go to my master.’

⁵⁷And they said, ‘Let us call the maiden and ask her.’

⁵⁸And they summoned Rebecca, and they said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go.’

⁵⁹So they sent away Rebecca their sister and her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men.

⁶⁰And they blessed Rebecca and said to her, ‘Our sister, may you become thousands of myriads, and may your seed inherit the cities of their enemies.’

⁶¹And Rebecca and her maidens arose and rode on the camels, and they followed the man; and the servant took Rebecca and left.

⁶²Now Isaac was on his way, coming from Be'er Lachai Ro'i, and he dwelt in the land of the south.

⁶³And Isaac went forth to pray in the field towards evening, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were approaching.

⁶⁴And Rebecca lifted her eyes, and saw Isaac, and she let herself down from the camel.

⁶⁵And she said to the servant, ‘Who is that man walking in the field towards us?’ And the servant said, ‘He is my master.’ And she took the veil and covered herself.

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

⁶⁷And Isaac brought her to the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for [the loss of] his mother.