24:1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2: He said to the chief ( or oldest ) servant in his house-hold, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh.
3: I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4: but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5: The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6: Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7: “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring (or seed) I will give this land’-he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8: If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine.” 9: So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10: Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim (Northwestern Mesopotamia) and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11: He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the woman go out to draw water.
12: The he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13: See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14: May it be that when I say to a girl, ’Please let me down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ’Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15: Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the duaghter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16: The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had evr lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17: The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18: “Drink, my Lord, “ she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19: After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.’ 20: So she quickly emptied her jar into the the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and dreww enough for all his camels. 21: Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22: When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka (about 1/5 ounce) and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. (about 4 ounces) 23: Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to pend the night?”
24: She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” 25: And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26: The the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27: saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28: The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29: Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30: As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31: Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the camels.”
32: So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33: Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban, said.
34: So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35: The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has bcome wealthy, He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. 36: My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her (his) old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37: And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38: but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39: “The I asked my master, ’Whatif the woman wll not come back with me?’
40: He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and frm my father’s family. 41: Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you-you will be released from my oath.’
42: ‘When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43: See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45: Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
