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¹ NOW Abraham was old and well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed him in all things.² And Abraham called his eldest servant, the steward of his house, who was in charge of everything that he had; and he said to him, Put your hand under my girdle;³ And I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take to my son a wife of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;⁴ But that you will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.⁵ And the servant said to him, Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from whence you came?⁶ And Abraham said to him, Beware that you do not take my son thither again.⁷ The LORD God of heaven, who took me from thence, from my fathers household and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me, and who made a covenant with me, saying, To your descendants will I give this land; he shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife to my son from there.⁸ And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath; only you must not take my son there again.⁹ So the servant put his hand under the girdle of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed, carrying with him all kinds of choice things of his master; and he arose, and went to Aram-nahrin (Mesopotamia), to the city of Nahor.¹¹ And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water in the evening, the very time when women go out to draw water.¹² And he prayed, saying, O LORD God of my master Abraham, prosper my journey, and show kindness to my master Abraham.¹³ Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.¹⁴ Let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down your pitcher, that I may drink; and she shall say to me, Drink, and I will water your camels also; let the same be she that thou hast selected for thy servant Isaac; and by this token shall I know that thou hast shown kindness and faithfulness to my master.¹⁵ And it came to pass, before he had finished speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abrahams brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder.¹⁶ And the damsel was very beautiful to look upon, a virgin whom no man had known; 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 drink a little water from your pitcher.¹⁸ And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hastened and let down the pitcher upon her hands and gave him a drink.¹⁹ And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they are all watered.²⁰ So she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew water for all his camels.²¹ And as the man watered his camels he scrutinized her, and waited to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.²² And it came to pass, when the camels were through drinking, the man took golden earrings weighing a shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,²³ And said to her, Whose daughter are you? tell me, is there room in your fathers house for us to lodge?²⁴ And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.²⁵ And she said moreover to him, We have plenty of straw and hay, and room to lodge in.²⁶ And the man knelt on the ground and worshipped the LORD.²⁷ And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his grace and his truth from my master; while I was on the road, the LORD led me to the house of my masters brother, to take his brothers daughter to his son.²⁸ Then the damsel ran, and related these things to her fathers household.

²⁹ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; so Laban ran out to the man, to the well.³⁰ And it came to pass, when he saw the earrings and the bracelets on his sisters hands and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man to me, he came to the man; and, behold, he was standing by the camels at the well.³¹ And he said to him, Come in, you blessed of the LORD; why do you stand in the street? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.³² So the man came into the house and ungirded the camels and gave straw and hay for the camels, and was given water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.³³ And there was set food before them to eat; but Abrahams steward said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. And they said, Speak on.³⁴ And he said, I am Abrahams servant.³⁵ And the LORD has blessed my master greatly, so that he has become great; and he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses.³⁶ And Sarah my masters wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, You must not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;³⁸ But you shall go to my fathers house and to my kindred, and take a wife to my son.³⁹ And I said to my master, Suppose the woman will be unwilling to follow me?⁴⁰ And he said to me, The LORD before whom I worship will send his angel with you, and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son of my kindred and of my fathers house;⁴¹ Then you shall be clear from my oath, when you go to my kindred; and if they do not give you a bride, you shall be clear from my oath.⁴² And I came today to the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my mission for which I came,⁴³ Behold, I am standing by the well of water, and it shall come to pass that when the damsel comes forth to draw water, and I say to her, Let me drink a little water from your pitcher,⁴⁴ And she say to me, Drink, and I will also draw for your camels, let the same be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my masters son.⁴⁵ And before I was through speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the fountain, and drew water; and I said to her, Let me drink a little water from your pitcher.⁴⁶ And she hastened, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will water your camels also; so I drank, and she watered my camels also.⁴⁷ Then I asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him; and I put the earrings on her ears and the bracelets on her hands.⁴⁸ And I knelt and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to the house of my masters brother to take my masters brothers daughter to his son.⁴⁹ And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; so that I may know what to do.⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeded from the LORD; we cannot say anything to you good or bad.⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your masters son, as the LORD has spoken.⁵² And it came to pass that, when Abrahams servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.⁵³ And the servant brought forth jewels of gold and jewels of silver and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave gifts to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and spent the night there; and the servant rose up in the morning, and said to them, Send me away to my master.⁵⁵ And her brother and her mother said to him, Let the damsel stay with us a month, or at least a few days; and then she shall go.⁵⁶ And he said to them, Do not delay me, seeing the LORD has prospered my errand; send me away that I may go to my master.⁵⁷ And they said, We will call the damsel, and ask her.⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah, and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go.⁵⁹ And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse and Abrahams servant and his men.⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah their sister, and said to her, You are our sister, be the mother of thousands and of millions, and let your descendants inherit the lands of their enemies.⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man; and the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² And Isaac had returned from the well of Khaya-khezan; for he dwelt in the south country.⁶³ Now Isaac strolled in the field in the evening; 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 leaned over the camel,⁶⁵ And she said to the servant, Who is this man who is walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master; therefore she took a veil and covered herself.⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that she had done.⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarahs tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mothers death.