Read the Bible

A Bride for Isaac

¹ Now ^(C1)Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had ^(C2)blessed Abraham in all things.² Abraham said to his servant Eliezer of Damascus, the oldest of his household, who had ^(C1)charge over all that Abraham owned, "^(C2)Please, put your hand under my thigh as is customary for affirming a solemn oath, ^(VR1)3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, ^(C1)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(C2)will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(C3)the Canaanites, among whom I live,⁴ but you will instead go to ^(C1)my former country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac the heir of the covenant promise."⁵ The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?"⁶ Abraham said to him, "^(C1)See to it that you do not take my son back there!⁷ "^(C1)The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, '^(C2)To your descendants I will give this land'—He will send ^(C3)His angel before you to guide you, and you will take a wife from there for my son and bring her here.⁸ "If the woman is not willing to follow you to this land, then you will ^(C1)be free from this my oath and blameless; ^(C2)only you must never take my son back there."⁹ So the servant ^(C1)put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master's camels, and set out, taking some of his master's ^(C1)good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to ^(F1)Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, to ^(C2)the city of Nahor the home of Abraham's brother.¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the ^(C1)well of water at ^(C2)the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.¹² And he said, "^(C1)O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please ^(C2)grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham.¹³ "Behold, ^(C1)I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;¹⁴ now let it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please, let down your jar so that I may have a drink,' and she replies, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink'—may she be the one whom You have selected as a wife for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master."

Rebekah Is Chosen

^15 (C1)Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), ^(C2)Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the ^(F1)son of ^(C3)Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.¹⁶ The girl was ^(C1)very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "^(C1)Please let me drink a little water from your jar."¹⁸ And ^(C1)she said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.¹⁹ When she had given Eliezer a drink, ^(C1)she said, "I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking."²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.^21 (C1)Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in reverent silence, waiting to know if the LORD had made his trip successful or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a ^(C1)gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,²³ and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?"²⁴ And she said to him, "^(C1)I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to her husband Nahor."²⁵ Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge."²⁶ The man ^(C1)bowed his head and worshiped the LORD.²⁷ He said, "^(C1)Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied ^(C2)His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, ^(C3)the LORD led me to the house of my master's brothers."

^28 (C1)Then the girl ran and told her mother's household what had happened.²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(C1)Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well.³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, "The man said this to me," he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring.³¹ And Laban said, "^(C1)Come in, ^(C2)blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since ^(C3)I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?"³² So the man came into the house, and ^(C1)Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and he gave water to Eliezer to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.³³ But when food was set before him, he said, "I will not eat until I have stated my business." And Laban said, "Speak on."³⁴ So he said, "I am ^(C1)Abraham's servant.³⁵ "The LORD has greatly ^(C1)blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him ^(C2)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.³⁶ "Now ^(C1)Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and ^(C2)he has given everything that he has to him.³⁷ "^(C1)My master made me swear an oath, saying, 'You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;³⁸ but you shall instead go to my father's house and to my family and take a wife for my son Isaac.'³⁹ "Then ^(C1)I said to my master, 'But suppose the woman will not follow me back to this land.'⁴⁰ "He said to me, '^(C1)The LORD, before whom I ^(C2)walk habitually and obediently, will send ^(C3)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 (C1)then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will also be free of my oath.'

⁴² "^(C1)I came today to the spring, and said, 'O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ^(C2)successful;⁴³ please look, ^(C1)I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden whom You have chosen for Isaac comes out to draw water, and to whom I say, "^(C2)Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar";⁴⁴ and if she says to me, "You drink, and I will also draw water for your camels"; let that woman be the one whom the LORD has selected and chosen as a wife for my master's son.'

⁴⁵ "Before I had finished ^(C1)praying in my heart, behold, ^(C2)Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And ^(C3)I said to her, 'Please, let me have a drink.'⁴⁶ "And she quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, '^(C1)Drink, and I will also water your camels'; so I drank, and she also watered the camels.⁴⁷ "^(C1)Then I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I ^(F1)put the ^(C2)ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.⁴⁸ "And I ^(C1)bowed down my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, ^(C2)who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's brother to his son as a wife.⁴⁹ "So now if you are going to ^(C1)show kindness and truth to my master being faithful to him, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left and go on my way."

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, "^(C1)The matter has come from the LORD; so ^(C2)we dare not speak bad or good to you about it—we cannot interfere.⁵¹ "Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken."

⁵² When Abraham's servant heard their words, he ^(C1)bowed himself to the ground in worship before the LORD.⁵³ Then the servant brought out ^(C1)jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. In the morning when they got up, he said, "^(C1)Now send me back to my master."⁵⁵ But Rebekah's brother and mother said, "^(C1)Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go."⁵⁶ But Eliezer said to them, "Do not delay me, since ^(C1)the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master."⁵⁷ And they said, "We will call the girl and ask her ^(F1)what she prefers."⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and said, "Will you go with this man?" And she answered, "I will go."⁵⁹ So they sent off their sister Rebekah and ^(C1)her nurse Deborah, as her attendant and Abraham's servant Eliezer and his men.⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

"May you, our sister,
^(C1)Become the mother of thousands of ten thousands,
And may ^(C2)your descendants possess (conquer)
The city gate of those who hate them."

Isaac Marries Rebekah

⁶² Now Isaac had returned from going to ^(C1)Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in ^(C2)the ^(F1)Negev. ^(VR1)63 Isaac went out ^(C1)to bow down in prayer in the field in the early evening; ^(C2)he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming.⁶⁴ Rebekah also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.⁶⁵ She said to the servant, "Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master Isaac." So she took a veil and covered herself as was customary.⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac everything that he had done.⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and ^(C1)he took Rebekah in marriage, and she became his wife, and ^(C2)he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after ^(C3)his mother's death.