Now aAbraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had bblessed Abraham in every way.
2Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had acharge of all that he owned, " bPlease place your hand under my thigh,
3and I will make you swear by the LORD, athe God of heaven and the God of earth, that you bshall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of cthe Canaanites, among whom I live,
4but you will go to amy country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
5The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"
6Then Abraham said to him, " aBeware that you do not take my son back there!
7" aThe LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ` bTo your 1descendants I will give this land,' He will send cHis angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.
8"But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will abe free from this my oath; bonly do not take my son back there."
9So the servant aplaced his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of agood things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to 1Mesopotamia, to bthe city of Nahor.
11He made the camels kneel down outside the city by athe well of water at evening time, bthe time when women go out to draw water.
12He said, " aO LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please 1 bgrant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.
13"Behold, aI am standing by the 1spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;
14now may it be that the girl to whom I say, `Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and 1who answers, `Drink, and I will water your camels also'--may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master."
aBefore he had finished speaking, behold, bRebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of cMilcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
16The girl was avery beautiful, a virgin, and no man had 1had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
17Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, " aPlease let me drink a little water from your jar."
18aShe said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.
19Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ashe said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."
20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
21aMeanwhile, the man was gazing at her 1in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.
22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a agold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her 1wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,
23and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?"
24She said to him, " aI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."
25Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in."
26Then the man abowed low and worshiped the LORD.
27He said, " aBlessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken bHis lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, cthe LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."
28Then athe girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.
29Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was aLaban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.
30When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's 1wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, " 2This is what the man said to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
31And he said, " aCome in, bblessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since cI have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"
32So the man entered the house. Then 1 aLaban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
33But when food was set before him to eat, he said, "I will not eat until I have told my business." And he said, "Speak on."
34So he said, "I am aAbraham's servant.
35"The LORD has greatly ablessed my master, so that he has become 1rich; and He has given him bflocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
36"Now aSarah my master's wife bore a son to my master 1in her old age, and bhe has given him all that he has.
37" aMy master made me swear, saying, `You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I 1live;
38but you shall go to my father's house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'
39" aI said to my master, `Suppose the woman does not follow me.'
40"He said to me, ` aThe LORD, before whom I have bwalked, will send cHis 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;
41athen you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'
42"So aI came today to the spring, and said, `O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go bsuccessful;
43behold, aI am standing by the 1spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, " bPlease let me drink a little water from your jar";
44and she will say to me, "You drink, and I will draw for your camels also"; let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.'
45"Before I had finished aspeaking in my heart, behold, bRebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and cI said to her, `Please let me drink.'
46"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ` aDrink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47" aThen I asked her, and said, `Whose daughter are you?' And she said, `The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I put the bring on her nose, and the bracelets on her 1wrists.
48"And I abowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, bwho had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's 1kinsman for his son.
49"So now if you are going to 1 adeal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left."
50Then Laban and Bethuel replied, " aThe matter comes from the LORD; bso we cannot speak to you bad or good.
51"Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken."
52When Abraham's servant heard their words, he abowed himself to the ground 1before the LORD.
53The servant brought out aarticles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
54Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, " aSend me away to my master."
55But her brother and her mother said, " aLet the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go."
56He said to them, "Do not delay me, since athe LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."
57And they said, "We will call the girl and 1consult her wishes."
58Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."
59Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and aher nurse with Abraham's servant and his men.
60They blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, aBecome thousands of ten thousands, And may byour 1descendants possess The gate of those who hate them."
61Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Now Isaac had come from going to aBeer-lahai-roi; for he 1was living in bthe 2Negev.
63Isaac went out ato 1meditate in the field toward evening; and bhe lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
64Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.
65She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her 1veil and covered herself.
66The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and ahe took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and bhe loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after chis mother's death.