Now Abraham was old, and advanced in years, and Yehowah had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to the oldest servant in his house, who was in charge of all that he had, I beg you, place your hand under my thigh; 3 and I will make you swear by Yehowah, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am living; 4 but you shall go to my land and my birthplace, and take a wife for my son Isaac. 5 But the servant said to him, It may be that no woman will be willing to follow me to this land; must I take your son back to the land from which you came? 6 And Abraham said to him, See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 Yehowah, the God of heaven, took me from my father's house and the land of my birth, and spoke to me and swore to me, and said, To your descendants I will give this land; he will send his angel before you, so that you may take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if no woman is willing to follow you, then you shall be free from this oath to me; only you shall not take my son back there. 9 Then the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master and swore to him concerning this thing. 10 So the servant took ten of his master's camels, and set off; and all his master's goods were in his hands; and he arose, and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water in the evening, at the time that women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, O Yehowah, God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, let me be successful today, and deal mercifully with my master Abraham. 13 See now, I am standing by a spring of water, and the daughters of the people of the city are coming out to draw water; 14 now let it happen that the one whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac will be the young woman who, when I say, Please lift down your jar so that I may drink, will answer, Drink, and I will water your camels also; and by this I shall know that thou hast dealt mercifully with my master.

15 And before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, who was the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milkab, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and her jar was on her shoulder. 16 And the young woman was very attractive, a virgin, for no man had known her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar, and came back. 17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Please let me sip a little water from your jar. 18 And she said, Have a drink, my lord; and she quickly lifted her jar down on her hand and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him the drink, she said, I will draw for your camels also, until they stop drinking. 20 Then she hurried to empty her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well, and drew water for all his camels. 21 And the man, marvelling at her, waited to know whether Yehowah had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 So when the camels had stopped drinking, the man took a gold ring, half a shekel in weight, and two gold bracelets for her wrists, weighing ten shekels; 23 and he said, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me if there is room in your father's house for us to spend the night. 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said to him, We have both straw and fodder in plenty, and a place in which to spend the night. 26 And the man bowed down and worshipped Yehowah. 27 And he said, Blessed be Yehowah, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his mercy and faithfulness towards my master; Yehowah has led me on the road to the house of my master's family.

28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother, whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the spring. 30 And when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the tale of his sister Rebekah, who said, The man spoke to me in this way, he went to the man, and there he was, standing by the camels at the spring. 31 And he said, Come in, O blessed of Yehowah; why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and there is a place for the camels. 32 And the man went into the house; and he ungirded the camels, and supplied straw and fodder for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 And food was set before him, but he said, I will not eat until I have delivered my message. And he said, Speak on. 34 Then he said, I am Abraham's servant. 35 And Yehowah has blessed my master greatly, and made him great; and he has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male and female slaves, and camels and asses. 36 And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master after she had become old; and to him he has given all that he has. 37 And my master made me swear, and said, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I am living; 38 but you shall go to my father's home and to my family, to take a wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, It may be that no woman will follow me. 40 Then he said to me, Yehowah, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's home; 41 then you shall be free from my oath, when you have come to my family; and if they will not give her to you, then you shall be free from my oath.

42 And I came today to the spring, and said, O Yehowah, the God of my master Abraham, I pray thee to prosper my way in which I am going; 43 see, I am standing by a spring of water; now let it happen that the girl going out to draw water who, when I say, Please give me a little water to drink from your jar, 44 wi11 say to me, Please drink and I will also draw water for your camels, shall be the woman whom Yehowah has appointed for my master's son. 45 I had not yet finished speaking in my heart when Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew water; and I said to her, Please give me a drink. 46 And she quickly lifted down her jar from her shoulder, and said, Take a drink, and I will give your camels a drink also; and I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milkah bore to him. And I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists. 48 And I bowed down and worshipped Yehowah, and blessed Yehowah, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the true way so as to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. 49 And now tell me whether or not you will show mercy and truth to my master, so that I may look to the right or the left.

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from Yehowah; we cannot say No or Yes to you. 51 There, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and she shall be the wife of your master's son, as Yehowah has spoken.

52 And when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed down to the earth before Yehowah. 53 And the servant brought out jewellery* of silver, and jewellery* of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. 54 And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed that night; and they got up in the morning, and he said, Let me return to my master. 55 But her brother and her mother said, The young woman must remain with us for a little while, at least ten days; she may go afterwards. 56 Then he said to them, Do not delay me, seeing that Yehowah has prospered my way; let me go so that I may return to my master. 57 And they said, Let us call the young woman, and ask her what she thinks.** 58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, Yes, I will go. 59 So they sent Rebekah their sister away with her nurse, and with Abraham's servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of myriads, and may your descendants possess the gateways of those who hate them. 61 And Rebekah arose with her young women, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah, and departed. * lit vessels ** lit ask at her mouth

62 Now Isaac had come on from Beer-lahai-roi, for he lived in the land of the Negeb. 63 And towards evening Isaac went out to meditate in the fields, and he raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that camels were coming. 64 And Rebekah raised her eyes and saw Isaac, and she alighted from her camel. 65 And she said to the servant, Who is this man who is walking in the fields to meet us? And when the servant said, He is my master, she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that had happened. 67 Then Isaac brought her to the tent of his mother Sarah; and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother.