Genesis 24

1¶ And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

2And Abraham said unto his eldest slave of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,

3and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;

4but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

5And the slave said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land, must I therefore bring thy son again unto the land from which thou didst come?

6And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou not bring my son there again.

7The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke unto me and swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there.

8And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be free from this my oath; only do not bring my son there again.

9Then the slave put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning that matter.

10¶ And the slave took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed with the best of what his master had in his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.

11And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

12And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, to have a good encounter this day and show mercy unto my master Abraham.

13Behold, I stand here by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out for water:

14And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels to drink also; let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy slave Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown mercy unto my master.

15And it came to pass before he had done speaking that, behold, Rebekah came out (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother) with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known; and she went down to the fountain and filled her pitcher and was coming back up.

17Then the slave ran to meet her and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

18And she said, Drink, my lord, and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink.

19And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they have finished drinking.

20And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water and drew for all his camels.

21And the man marveled at her in silence, to see whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

22And it came to pass as the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden pendant of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold

23and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee; is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

24And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she gave birth unto Nahor.

25She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and fodder enough and room to lodge in.

26Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord.

27And he said, Blessed be the Lord, God of my master Abraham, who has not lifted his mercy and his truth from my master, the Lord leading me in the way to the house of my master’s brethren.

28And the damsel ran and told those of her mother’s house these things.

29¶ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out unto the man to the fountain.

30And it came to pass when he saw the pendant and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, she said, Thus spoke the man unto me; then he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain.

31And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; why dost thou stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and the place for the camels.

32Then the man came into the house, and Laban ungirded his camels and gave straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the men’s feet that were with him.

33And they set food before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. And he said unto him, Speak on.

34And he said, I am Abraham’s slave.

35And the Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold and menslaves and maidslaves and camels and asses.

36And Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old, unto whom he has given all that he has.

37And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;

38but thou shalt go unto my father’s house and to my kindred and take from there a wife for my son.

39And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

40And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my lineage and of my father’s house;

41then shalt thou be free from this my oath, when thou hast come unto my lineage; and if they give her not unto thee, thou shalt be free from my oath.

42And I came this day unto the fountain and said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now thou dost prosper my way by which I go,

43behold, I stand by the fountain of water; let it come to pass, therefore, that the virgin who comes forth to draw water unto whom I say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

44and if she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, let the same be the woman whom the Lord has prepared for my master’s son.

45And before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she went down unto the fountain and drew water, and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

46And she made haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; so I drank, and she gave to drink unto the camels also.

47And I asked her and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore unto him. Then I put the pendant over her nose and the bracelets upon her hands.

48And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of the truth to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.

49And now if ye will deal in mercy and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.

50Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from the Lord; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

51Behold, Rebekah is before thee; take her and go and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.

52And it came to pass that when Abraham’s slave heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.

53And the slave brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54¶ And they ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and slept; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.

55Then her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

56And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord has prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

57Then they said, We will call the damsel and enquire at her mouth.

58And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

59So they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse and Abraham’s slave and his men.

60And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them.

61And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man; and the slave took Rebekah and went away.

62¶ And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the land of the Negev.

63And Isaac had gone out to pray in the field at the evening hour; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

64And Rebekah also lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

65For she had asked the slave, What man is this that walks in the field to meet us? And the slave had said, This is my master; therefore she took a veil and covered herself.

66Then the slave told Isaac all the things that he had done.

67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rebekah as his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

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Genesis 24

CHAPTER 24

1Forsooth Abraham was eld [or old], and of many days, and the Lord had blessed him in all things.

2And he said to the elder servant of his house, that was sovereign on all things that he had, Put thou thine hand under mine hip,

3that I conjure or adjure thee by the Lord God of heaven and of earth, that thou take not a wife to my son of the daughters of Canaan, among which I dwell;

4but that thou go to my land and kindred, and thereof take a wife to my son Isaac.

5The servant answered, If the woman will not come with me into this land, whether I owe to lead again thy son to the place, from which thou wentest out?

6Abraham said, Beware, lest any time thou lead again thither my son;

7the Lord God of heaven that took me from the house of my father, and from the land of my birth, which spake to me, and swore, and said, I shall give this land to thy seed, he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife to my son;

8forsooth if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be holden by the oath; nevertheless lead not again my son thither.

9Therefore the servant putted his hand under the hip of Abraham, his lord, and swore to him on this word.

10And he took ten camels of the flock of his lord, and went forth, and bare with him of all the goods of his lord; and he went forth, and came to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

11And when he had made the camels to rest without the city, beside a pit or well of water, in the eventide, in that time in which women be wont to go out to draw water,

12he said, Lord God of my lord Abraham, I beseech, meet with me today, and do mercy with my lord Abraham.

13Lo! I stand nigh the well of water, and the daughters of the dwellers of this city shall go out to draw water;

14therefore the damsel to which I shall say, Bow down thy water pot that I drink, and [she] shall answer, Drink thou, but also I shall give drink to thy camels, that it is which thou hast made ready to thy servant Isaac; and by this I shall understand that thou hast done mercy to my lord Abraham.

15And he had not yet [full-]filled the words within himself, and lo! Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, went out, having a water pot in her shoulder;

16a damsel full comely/full shapely, and fairest virgin, and unknown of man. Soothly she came down to the well, and filled the water pot, and turned again.

17And the servant met her, and said, Give thou to me a little of the water of thy pot to drink.

18Which answered, Drink thou, my lord. And anon she did down the water pot on her shoulder, and gave drink to him.

19And when he had drunk, she said, But also I shall draw water to thy camels, till all have drunk.

20And she poured out the water pot in[to] troughs, and ran again to the pit, to draw water, and she gave water drawn to all the camels.

21Soothly he beheld her privily, and would wit whether the Lord had sped his way, or nay.

22Therefore after that the camels had drunk, the man brought forth golden earrings, weighing two shekels, and as many bands of the arm, in the weight of ten shekels.

23And he said to her, Whose daughter art thou? show thou to me, is [there] any place in the house of thy father to dwell in?

24Which answered, I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah childed to him.

25And she added, saying, Also full much of provender and of hay is at us, and a large place to dwell in.

26The man bowed himself, and worshipped the Lord,

27and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which took not away his mercy and truth from my lord, and led me by the right way, into the house of the brother of my lord.

28And so the damsel ran, and told in the house of her mother all things which she had heard.

29Soothly Rebecca had a brother, Laban by name, which went out hastily to the man, where he was withoutforth.

30And when he had seen the earrings, and bands of the arm in the hands of his sister, and had heard all the words of her, telling, The man spake to me these things, he came to the man that stood beside the camels, and nigh the well of water,

31and said to him, Enter thou, the blessed of the Lord; why standest thou withoutforth? I have made ready the house, and a place to thy camels.

32And he brought him into the inn, and unsaddled the camels, and gave provender, and hay, and water to wash the feet of the camels, and of men that came with him.

33And bread was set forth in his sight, the which said, I shall not eat till I speak my words. He answered to the man, Speak thou.

34And the man said, I am the servant of Abraham,

35and the Lord hath blessed my lord greatly, and he is made great; and God gave to him sheep, and oxen, silver, and gold, servants, and handmaids, and camels, and asses.

36And Sarah, my lord’s wife, childed a son to my lord in his eld age, and Abraham, my lord, hath given all things that he had to that son.

37And my lord charged me greatly, and said, Thou shalt not take to my son a wife of the daughters of Canaan, in whose land I dwell,

38but thou shalt go to the house of my father, and of my kindred thou shalt take a wife to my son.

39Forsooth I answered to my lord, What if the woman will not come with me?

40He said, The Lord, in whose sight I go, shall send his angel with thee, and shall dress thy way; and thou shalt take a wife to my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house.

41Thou shalt be innocent from my curse, when thou comest to my kins-men, and they give not her to thee.

42Therefore I came today to the well of water, and said, Lord God of my lord Abraham, if thou hast dressed my way in which I go now,

43lo! I stand beside the well of water, and the maid[en] that shall go out to draw water, heareth me say to her, Give thou to me a little of water to drink of thy pot,

44and she say to me, And thou drink, and I shall draw water to thy camels, that is the woman which the Lord hath made ready to the son of my lord.

45While I turned in thought these things with me, Rebecca appeared, coming with a pot which she bare in her shoulder; and she went down to the well, and drew water. And I said to her, Give thou a little to me to drink;

46and she hasted, and did down the pot off the shoulder, and said to me, And thou drink, and I shall give drink to thy camels; I drank, and she watered the camels.

47And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? Which answered, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah childed to him. And so I hanged earrings to adorn her face, and I put bands of the arm in her hands,

48and low-like I worshipped the Lord, and I blessed the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which God led me by the right way, that I should take the daughter of the brother of my lord to his son.

49Wherefore if ye do mercy and truth with my lord, show ye to me; else if other thing pleaseth, also say ye this, that I go to the right side or to the left side.

50Laban and Bethuel answered, The word is gone out of the Lord; we may not speak any other thing with thee without his pleasance [or pleasing].

51Lo! Rebecca is before thee; take thou her, and go forth, and be she [the] wife of the son of thy lord, as the Lord spake.

52And when the servant of Abraham had heard this, he felled down, and worshipped the Lord in earth.

53And when vessels of silver, and of gold, and clothes were brought forth, he gave those to Rebecca for a gift, and he gave gifts to her brethren, and mother.

54And when a feast was made, they ate and drank together, and dwelled there. Forsooth the servant rose early, and said, Deliver ye me, that I go to my lord.

55Her brethren and mother answered, The damsel dwell namely ten days at us, and afterward she shall go forth.

56The servant said, Do not ye hold me, for the Lord hath dressed my way; deliver ye me, that I go to my lord.

57And they said, Call we the damsel, and ask we her will.

58And when she was called, and came, they asked her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I shall go.

59Therefore they delivered her, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham, and his fellows,

60and wished prosperities to their sister, and said, Thou art our sister, increase thou into a thousand thousands, and thy seed wield the gates of his enemies.

61Therefore Rebecca and her damsels ascended [or went up] on the camels, and pursued [or followed] the man, which turned again hastily to his lord.

62In that time Isaac walked by the way that leadeth to the pit or well, whose name is of him that liveth and seeth; for he dwelled in the south land.

63And he went out to think in the field, for the day was bowed [down] then; and when he had raised [up] his eyes, he saw camels coming from afar.

64And when Isaac was seen, Rebecca lighted down off the camel,

65and said to the servant, Who is that man that cometh by the field into the meeting of us? And the servant said to her, It is my lord. And she took soon a mantle, and covered herself.

66Forsooth the servant told to his lord Isaac all things which he had done;

67Isaac led her into the tabernacle of Sarah, his mother, and took her to wife; and so much he loved her, that he assuaged the sorrow which befell to him of the death of his mother.

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