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Genesis 24

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 And Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Please, put your hand under my thigh,
3 and I will make you swear by Jehovah the God of the Heavens and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;
4 but you shall go to my land and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.
5 And 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?
6 And Abraham said to him, Beware that you do not take my son back there.
7 Jehovah the God of Heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, To your seed I give this land, He will send His Angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you have been released from this oath; only, do not take my son back there.
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 And the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw.
12 And he said, O Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, please cause the meeting before me this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I shall 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 by this I shall know that You have shown kindness to my master.
15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.
16 And the young woman was of a very pleasant appearance, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink, my lord. Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.
19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.
20 And she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man, gazing at her, remained silent so as to know whether Jehovah had prospered his journey or not.
22 And it came to pass, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels of gold,
23 and said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?
24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor.
25 Moreover she said to him, We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.
26 And the man bowed down and prostrated himself before Jehovah.
27 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His goodness and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, Jehovah has led me to the house of my master's brethren.
28 And the girl ran and told these things in the house of her mother.
29 And Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.
30 And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, 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.
31 And he said, Come in, O blessed of Jehovah! Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.
32 And the man came into the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed 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 to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my business. And he said, Speak.
34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
35 Jehovah has 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.
36 And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.
37 And my master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;
38 but you shall go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.
39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me.
40 And he said to me, Jehovah, before 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 Then you shall be free from this oath when you come to my family; and 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, O Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,
43 behold, I am standing 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,
44 and she says to me, Drink, and I will draw for your camels also; let her be the woman whom Jehovah has appointed for my master's son.
45 And before I had finished speaking 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.
46 And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give your camels water also. So I drank, and she gave the camels water also.
47 Then 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 ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands.
48 And I bowed and prostrated myself before Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
49 And now if you will deal 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.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing has come forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.
51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Jehovah has spoken.
52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he prostrated himself to the earth before Jehovah.
53 And the servant brought out articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed the night. And they arose in the morning, and he said, Send me away to my master.
55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the girl stay with us perhaps ten days; after that she may go.
56 And he said to them, Do not delay me, since Jehovah has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.
57 So they said, We will call the girl and ask at her mouth.
58 And they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go.
59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your seed possess the gates of those who hate them.
61 And Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
62 And Isaac came from the gates of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the land toward the south.
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, the camels were coming.
64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;
65 for she had said to the servant, Who is this man walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master. Therefore she took a veil and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
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