Gen 24 | ABEn | STEP | And Abraham was older, advancing of days. And the lord blessed Abraham according to all things .

‏ Genesis 24

CHAPTER 24 The Search for a Wife

1 And Abraham was older, advancing of days. And the lord blessed Abraham according to all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant, to the elder of his house, to the one in charge of all his things, Put your hand under my thigh! 3 And I adjure you by the lord God of the heaven, and the God of the earth, that you should not take a wife to my son Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites, with whom I live among them. 4 But only unto my land of which I was shall you go, and unto my tribe. And you shall take a wife for my son Isaac from there. 5 [⁴said ¹And ⁵to ⁶him ²the ³servant], If at any time [⁴not ³wills ¹the ²woman] to go with me back into this land, shall I return your son into the land from where you came forth from there? 6 [³said ¹And ⁴to ⁵him ²Abraham], Take heed to yourself that you should not return my son there. 7 The lord God of the heaven, and the God of the earth, who took me from [²house ¹my father's], and from the land of which I was born, who spoke to me, and who swore by an oath to me, saying, To you I will give this land and your seed -- he will send his angel in front of you, and you shall take a wife, for my son from there. 8 And if [³should not ⁴want ¹the ²woman] to go with you into this land, you will be clean from this oath. Only [³my son ¹you should not ²return] there. 9 And [³put ¹the ²servant] his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master. And he swore by an oath to him on account of this saying. 10 And [³took ¹the ²servant] ten camels from the camels of his master, and from all the good things of his master with himself. And rising up he went into Mesopotamia, into the city of Nahor. 11 And he rested the camels outside of the city by the Well of the Water, towards late in the day, when the women came forth drawing water. 12 And he said, O lord God of my master Abraham, prosper the way before me today, and perform mercy with my master Abraham! 13 Behold, I stand near the spring of water, and the daughters of the men living in the city come forth to draw water. 14 And it shall be the virgin, who ever I should have said, Incline your water-pitcher! that I might drink. And she should have said to me, You drink! and [²your camels ¹I will water] until whenever they cease to drink -- this one you prepared for your servant Isaac, and in this I will know that you executed mercy with my master Abraham. 15 And it came to pass before completing his speaking in his mind, that behold, Rebekah came forth -- the one born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, and brother of Abraham, having the water-pitcher upon her shoulders. 16 And the virgin was good in the appearance -- exceedingly. She was a virgin, no man knew her. And coming upon the spring, she filled her water-pitcher, and ascended. 17 [⁴ran ¹And ²the ³servant] to meet with her, and he said, Give me to drink a little water from out of your water-pitcher! 18 And she said, Drink, O lord! And she hastened and lowered the water-pitcher upon her arm, and gave him to drink until he ceased drinking. 19 And she said, Also to your camels I will draw water until whenever all should have drunk. 20 And she hastened and emptied out the water-pitcher into the channel, and ran yet again unto the well to draw water. And she drew water for all the camels. 21 And the man studied her, and remained silent to know if the lord prospered his way or not. 22 And it came to pass when [⁴ceased ¹all ²the ³camels] drinking, [³took ¹the ²man] ear-rings of gold worth up to a drachma scale-weight, and two bracelets, and put them upon her hands -- ten pieces of gold scale-weight was their weight. 23 And he asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? Announce to me if there is by your father a place for us to rest up! 24 And she said to him, [²the daughter ³of Bathuel ¹I am], the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said to him, Also [²straw ³and ⁴fodder ¹there is much] by us, and a place to rest up. 26 And [³finding favor ¹the ²man], did obeisance to the lord, and said, 27 Blessed be the lord God of my master Abraham, who abandoned not righteousness and truth from my master. [²indeed prospered me ¹The lord] to the house of the brother of my master. 28 And running, the maidservant announced in the house to her mother about these words. 29 And to Rebekah there was a brother whose name was Laban. And Laban ran to the man outside near the spring. 30 And it came to pass when he saw the ear-rings, and the bracelets upon the hands of his sister, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, So spoke to me the man; that he came to the man standing by himself by the camels near the spring. 31 And he said to him, Come, enter blessed of the lord! Why stand outside? For I prepared the residence, and a place for the camels. 32 [⁴entered ¹And ²the ³man] into the residence. And he unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water for his feet, and for the feet of the men with him. 33 And he placed near them bread loaves to eat. And he said, No way will I eat until speaking my words. And he said, Speak! 34 And he said, A servant of Abraham I am. 35 And the lord blessed my master exceedingly; and he was raised up high, and he gave to him sheep, and calves, and silver, and pieces of gold, and manservants, and maidservants, camels, and donkeys. 36 And [⁵bore ¹Sarah ²the ³wife ⁴of my master] a son, one to my master after his growing old. And he gave to him as much as was his. 37 And [²bound me by an oath ¹my master], saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in which I sojourned in their land. 38 But unto the house of my father you should go, and to my tribe; and you shall take a wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, Perhaps [³should not go ¹the ²woman] with me. 40 And he said to me, The lord God in whom I was found well-pleasing before him, he will send out his angel with you, and prosper your way. And you will take a wife for my son from out of my tribe, and from out of the house of my father. 41 Then [²innocent ¹you will be] concerning my oath. For when ever you should have come to my tribe, and [²not ⁴to you ¹they should ³give her], then you will be innocent concerning my oath. 42 And coming today upon the spring, I said, O lord, the God of my master Abraham; if you prosper my way, in which now I go by it, 43 behold, I stand near the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city came forth to draw water, and it will be the virgin to whom ever I should say, [⁴to drink ¹Give me ⁵from ⁶your water-pitcher ²a little ³water]! 44 And she should have said to me, You also drink, and to your camels I will draw water. This is the woman whom the lord prepared for his own attendant Isaac; and in this you will know that you have done mercy to my master Abraham. 45 And it came to pass before the completing my speaking in my mind, straightway Rebekah came forth having the water-pitcher upon the shoulders, and she went down to the spring, and she drew water. And I said to her, Give me a drink! 46 And she hastened to lower the water-pitcher upon her arm from herself, and she said, You drink! and [²your camels ¹I will water]. And I drank, and [²the ³camels ¹she watered]. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, [²the daughter ³of Bethuel ¹I am], son of Nahor, whom [²bore ³to him ¹Milcah]. And I put on her the ear-rings, and the bracelets about her hands. 48 And finding favor, I did obeisance to the lord. And I blessed the lord God of my master Abraham, who prospered me in the way of truth, to take the daughter of the brother of my master, for his son. 49 If then you do mercy and righteousness to my master, report to me that I might turn to the right or left! 50 And answering Laban and Bethuel said, From the lord came forth this thing, we will not be able to contradict bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you, in taking her, run! and let her be wife to the son of your master! as the lord spoke. 52 And taking place in the hearing of the servant of Abraham their words, he did obeisance upon the ground to the lord. 53 And [³brought forth ¹the ²servant] items made of silver and of gold. And [²clothes ¹he gave] to Rebekah, and [²gifts ¹he gave] to her brother, and to her mother. 54 And they ate and drank. And he and the men [²with ³him ¹being] went to sleep. And rising up in the morning, he said, Send me forth! that I may go forth to my master. 55 [⁵said ¹And ²her brothers ³and ⁴mother], Let [³remain ¹the ²virgin] with us [³days ¹about ²ten]! and after this she shall go forth. 56 And he said to them, Do not hold me, for the lord prospered my way! Send me! that I may go forth to my master. 57 And they said, We should call the maidservant, and we should ask by her mouth. 58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. 59 And they sent forth Rebekah their sister, and her possessions, and the servant of Abraham, and the ones with him. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, [³sister ²our ¹You are], become for a thousand myriads, and [²inherit ¹let your seed] the cities of your opponents! 61 And rising up, Rebekah and her handmaidens mounted upon the camels, and they went with the man. And taking the girl Rebekah, he went forth. 62 And Isaac was traveling over through the wilderness by the Well of the Vision. And he dwelt in the land towards the south. 63 And Isaac came forth to meditate in the plain towards afternoon. And looking up with his eyes, he saw camels coming. 64 And Rebekah looking up with the eyes, saw Isaac, and she leaped down from the camel. 65 And she said to the servant, Who is that man going in the plain to meet us? And said the servant, This is my master. And she having taken the lightweight covering put it on. 66 And [³described ¹the ²servant] to Isaac all the words which he did. 67 [³entered ¹And ²Isaac] into the house of his mother, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted concerning Sarah his mother.