Genesis 24
24
A Bride for Isaac
1Now Abraham #Gen. 18:11; 21:5was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord #Gen. 12:2; 13:2; 24:35; Ps. 112:3; Prov. 10:22; (Gal. 3:9)had blessed Abraham in all things. 2So Abraham said #Gen. 15:2to the oldest servant of his house, who #Gen. 24:10; 39:4–6ruled over all that he had, “Please, #Gen. 47:29; 1 Chr. 29:24put your hand under my thigh, 3and I will make you #Gen. 14:19, 22swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that #Gen. 26:35; 28:2; Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3; 2 Cor. 6:14–17you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4#Gen. 28:2but you shall go #Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:15to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7The Lord God of heaven, who #Gen. 12:1; 24:3took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, #Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; Ex. 32:13; Deut. 1:8; 34:4; Acts 7:5‘To your descendants I give this land,’ #Gen. 16:7; 21:17; 22:11; Ex. 23:20, 23; 33:2; Heb. 1:4, 14He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then #Josh. 2:17–20you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, #Gen. 24:2, 22for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to #Gen. 11:31, 32; 22:20; 27:43; 29:5the city of Nahor. 11And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time #Ex. 2:16; 1 Sam. 9:11when women go out to draw water. 12Then he #Gen. 24:27, 42, 48; 26:24; 32:9; Ex. 3:6, 15said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please #Gen. 27:20; Neh. 1:11; Ps. 37:5give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13Behold, here #Gen. 24:43I stand by the well of water, and #Ex. 2:16the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And #Judg. 6:17, 37; 1 Sam. 14:10; 16:7; 20:7; 2 Kin. 20:9; Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:26by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15And it happened, #Is. 65:24before he had finished speaking, that behold, #Gen. 24:45; 25:20Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of #Gen. 22:20, 23Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16Now the young woman #Gen. 12:11; 26:7; 29:17was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18#Gen. 24:14, 46; (1 Pet. 3:8, 9)So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether #Gen. 24:12–14, 27, 52the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden #Gen. 24:47; Ex. 32:2, 3; Is. 3:19–21nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, 23and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”
24So she said to him, #Gen. 22:23; 24:15“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”
26Then the man #Gen. 24:48, 52; Ex. 4:31bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27And he said, #Gen. 24:12, 42, 48; Ex. 18:10; Ruth 4:14; 1 Sam. 25:32, 39; 2 Sam. 18:28; Luke 1:68“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken #Gen. 32:10; Ps. 98:3His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord #Gen. 24:21, 48led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” 28So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.
29Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was #Gen. 29:5, 13Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. 31And he said, “Come in, #Gen. 26:29; Judg. 17:2; Ruth 3:10; Ps. 115:15O blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”
32Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and #Gen. 43:24; Judg. 19:21provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to #Gen. 19:2; John 13:5, 13–15wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33Food was set before him to eat, but he said, #Job 23:12; John 4:34; Eph. 6:5–7“I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”
And he said, “Speak on.”
34So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35The Lord #Gen. 13:2; 24:1has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36And Sarah my master’s wife #Gen. 21:1–7bore a son to my master when she was old; and #Gen. 21:10; 25:5to him he has given all that he has. 37Now my master #Gen. 24:2–4made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38#Gen. 24:4but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ 39#Gen. 24:5And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40#Gen. 24:7But he said to me, ‘The Lord, #Gen. 5:22, 24; 17:1; 1 Kin. 8:23before whom I walk, 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 house. 41#Gen. 24:8You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
42“And this day I came to the well and said, #Gen. 24:12‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, 43#Gen. 24:13behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” 44and she says to me, “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#Gen. 24:15“But before I had finished #1 Sam. 1:13speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. 47Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48#Gen. 24:26, 52And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to #Gen. 22:23; 24:27; Ps. 32:8; 48:14; Is. 48:17take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49Now if you will #Gen. 47:29; Josh. 2:14deal kindly and truly 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, #Ps. 118:23; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:11“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot #Gen. 31:24, 29speak to you either bad or good. 51#Gen. 20:15Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”
52And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that #Gen. 24:26, 48he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. 53Then the servant brought out #Gen. 24:10, 22; Ex. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave #2 Chr. 21:3; Ezra 1:6precious things to her brother and to her mother.
54And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, #Gen. 24:56, 59; 30:25“Send me away to my master.”
55But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”
56And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”
57So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” 58Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”
And she said, “I will go.”
59So they sent away Rebekah their sister #Gen. 35:8and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:
“Our sister, may you become
#Gen. 17:16The mother of thousands of ten thousands;
#Gen. 22:17; 28:14 And may your descendants possess
The gates of those who hate them.”
61Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
62Now Isaac came from the way of #Gen. 16:14; 25:11Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63And Isaac went out #Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 77:12; 119:15, 27, 48; 143:5; 145:5to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when #Josh. 15:18she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he #Gen. 25:20; 29:20; Prov. 18:22took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac #Gen. 23:1, 2; 38:12was comforted after his mother’s death.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 24
24
Isaac and Rebekah
1Now Abraham was old, advanced in age,#Literally “going in the days” and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in everything. 2And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh 3that I may make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I am dwelling, 4but that you will go to my land and to my family, and take a wife for my son, for Isaac.” 5And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow#Literally “to go after” me to this land—must I then return your son to the land from whence you came?” 6Abraham said to him, “You must take care#Literally “let it be careful to you” that you do not return my son there. 7Yahweh, the God of heaven who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘to your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8And if the woman is not willing to follow#Literally “to go after” you, then you shall be released from this oath of mine—only you must not return my son there.” 9Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and he swore to him concerning this matter. 10And the servant took ten camels from his master’s camels, and he went with all kinds of his master’s good things in his hand. And he arose and went to Aram-Naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11And he made the camels kneel outside the city at the well of water, at the time of evening, toward the time the women went out to draw water.12And he said, “O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loyal love to my master Abraham. 13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are going out to draw water. 14And let it be that the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please, offer your jar that I may drink’ and who says, ‘Drink—and I will also water your camels,’ she is the one you have chosen for your servant, for Isaac. By her I will know that you have shown loyal love to my master.” 15And it happened that before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah—who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham—came out, and her jar was on her shoulder. 16Now the girl was very pleasing in appearance. She was a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. 17And the servant ran to meet her. And he said, “Please, let me drink a little of the water from your jar.” 18And she said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly lowered her jar in her hand and gave him a drink. 19When#Or “And” she finished giving him a drink she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they finish drinking.” 20And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water. And she drew water for all his camels. 21And the man was gazing at her silently to know if Yahweh had made his journey successful or not. 22And it happened that as the camels finished drinking the man took a gold ring of a half shekel in weight and two bracelets for her arms, ten shekels in weight, 23and said, “Please tell me, whose daughter are you? Is there a place at the house of your father for us to spend the night?” 24And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25Then she said to him, “We have both straw and fodder in abundance, as well as a place to spend the night.” 26And the man knelt down and worshiped Yahweh. 27And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld#Or “abandoned” his loyal love and his faithfulness from my master. I was on the way and Yahweh led me to the house of my master’s brother.” 28Then the girl ran and reported these things to the household of her mother.
29Now Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. And Laban ran out to the man toward the spring. 30And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, who said, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing with the camels at the spring. 31And he said, “Come, O blessed one of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? Now I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32And the man came to the house and unloaded the camels. And he gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33And food was placed before him#Literally “And it was placed before him” to eat. And he said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.”#Literally “I have spoken my word” And he said, “Speak.” 34And he said, “I am the servant of Abraham. 35Now Yahweh has blessed my master exceedingly, and he has become great. He has given to him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. 36And Sarah, the wife of my master, has borne a son to my master after her old age. And he#That is, Abraham has given to him all that he has. 37And my master made me swear, saying, ‘Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I am living. 38But you shall go to the house of my father, and to my family, and you shall take a wife for my son.’ 39And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow#Literally “go after” me.’ 40And he said to me, ‘Yahweh, before whom I have walked, shall send his angel with you and will make your journey successful. And you shall take a wife for my son from my family, and from the house of my father. 41Then you shall be released from my oath, when you come to my family. And if they will not give a woman to you, then you will be released from my oath.’ 42Then today I came to the spring, and I said, ‘O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, if you would please make my journey successful,#Literally “if there is you making successful my journey” upon which I am going. 43Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let it be that the young woman who comes out to draw water and to whom I say, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar,” 44let her say to me, “Drink; I will also draw water for your camels,” she is the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for the son of my master.’ 45I had not yet finished speaking to myself#Or “to my heart” when, behold, Rebekah was coming out with#Or “and” 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.’ 46And she hastened and let down her jar from her shoulder#Literally “from upon her” and said, ‘Drink, and I will give a drink to your camels also.’ Then I drank and she gave a drink to the camels also. 47Then I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ And I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. 48And I knelt down and worshiped Yahweh, and I praised Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right way, to take the daughter of the brother of my master for his son. 49So now, if you are going to deal loyally and truly#Literally “if there is you doing loyal love and faithfulness” with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right or to the left.”#An idiom for “so that I might know what to do” 50Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, “The matter has gone out from Yahweh; we are not able to speak bad or good to you. 51Here is Rebekah before you. Take her and go; let her be a wife for the son of your master as Yahweh has spoken.” 52And it happened that when the servant of Abraham heard their words he bowed down to the ground to Yahweh. 53And the servant brought out silver jewelry and gold jewelry, and garments, and he gave them to Rebekah. And he gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night. And they got up in the morning, and he said, “Let me go to my master.” 55And her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; after that she may go.” 56And he said to them, “Do not delay me. Now, Yahweh has made my journey successful. Let me go. I must go to my master.” 57And they said, “Let us call the girl and ask her opinion.”#Literally “her mouth” 58And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59So they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “You are our sister; may you become countless thousands; and may your offspring take possession of the gate of his enemies.” 61And Rebekah and her maidservants arose, and they mounted the camels and followed#Literally “went after” the man. And the servant took Rebekah and left.
62Now Isaac was coming from the direction of Beer-Lahai-Roi. And he was living in the land of the Negev. 63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field early in the evening,#Literally “at the turning of evening” and he lifted up his eyes and saw—behold, camels were coming. 64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac. And she got down from the camel. 65And she said to the servant, “Who is this man walking around in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “That is my master.” And she took her#Or “the” veil and covered herself. 66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67And Isaac brought her to the tent of Sarah his mother. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after the death of his mother.
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