Genesis 24

Legacy Standard Bible

A Wife for Isaac

24 Now ^(A)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and Yahweh had ^(B)blessed Abraham in every way. ² And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who ^(C)ruled over all that he owned, “^(D)Please place your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by Yahweh, ^(E)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(F)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(G)the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴ but you will go to ^(H)my land and to my kin, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ And the servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I indeed take your son back to the land from where you came?” ⁶ Then Abraham said to him, “^(I)Beware lest you take my son back there! ^7 (J)Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kin, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘^(K)To your seed I will give this land,’ He will send ^(L)His 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 ^(M)be free from this oath of mine; ^(N)only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant ^(O)placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and he went with all kinds of ^(P)good things of his master’s in his hand. So he arose and went to ^[a]Mesopotamia, to ^(Q)the city of Nahor. ¹¹ And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^(R)the well of water at evening time, ^(S)the time when the women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “^(T)O Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please ^(U)cause this to happen before me today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, ^(V)I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now may it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will give water to your camels to drink also’—may she be the one whom You have decided for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

Rebekah Goes with Abraham’s Servant

^15 (W)And before he had finished speaking, behold, ^(X)Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(Y)Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, was coming out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the young woman was ^(Z)very beautiful in appearance, a virgin, and no man had ^[b]known her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “^(AA)Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ^18 (AB)And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^(AC)she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she hurried and emptied her jar into the watering channel and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ^21 (AD)Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her ^[c]in silence, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.

²² Now it happened that when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^(AE)gold ring weighing a ^[d]half-shekel and two bracelets for her ^[e]wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there a place for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴ And she said to him, “^(AF)I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ And she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and a place to lodge in.” ²⁶ Then the man ^(AG)bowed low and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷ And he said, “^(AH)Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(AI)His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^(AJ)Yahweh has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then ^(AK)the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(AL)Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ Now it happened, when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s ^[f]wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “^[g]This is what the man said to me,” he came out to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And he said, “^(AM)Come in, ^(AN)blessed of Yahweh! Why do you stand outside since ^(AO)I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?” ³² So the man came into the house. Then ^[h](AP)Laban 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. ³³ Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have spoken my words.” And he said, “Speak!” ³⁴ So he said, “I am ^(AQ)Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ And Yahweh has greatly ^(AR)blessed my master, so he has become great; and He has given him ^(AS)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now ^(AT)Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master ^[i]in her old age, and ^(AU)he has given him all that he has. ^37 (AV)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 ^[j]live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ^39 (AW)Then I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ And he said to me, ‘^(AX)Yahweh, before whom I have ^(AY)walked, will send ^(AZ)His angel with you and will make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. ^41 (BA)Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives. Now if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴² “So ^(BB)I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ^(BC)successful; ⁴³ behold, ^(BD)I am standing by the spring of water, and may it be that the ^[k]maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “^(BE)Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; she is the woman whom Yahweh has decided upon for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished ^(BF)speaking in my heart, behold, ^(BG)Rebekah was coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew, and ^(BH)I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶ Then she hurried and lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘^(BI)Drink, and I will also give water to your camels to drink’; so I drank, and she also gave water to the camels to drink. ^47 (BJ)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 ^(BK)ring on her nose and the bracelets on her ^[l]wrists. ⁴⁸ And I ^(BL)bowed low and worshiped Yahweh; and I blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, ^(BM)who had guided me in the true way to take the daughter of my master’s ^[m]relative for his son. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to ^(BN)show lovingkindness and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “^(BO)The matter comes from Yahweh; ^(BP)so we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as Yahweh has spoken.”

⁵² Now it happened that when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he ^(BQ)bowed himself to the ground ^[n]before Yahweh. ⁵³ The servant brought out ^(BR)articles 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. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. And then they arose in the morning, and he said, “^(BS)Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “^(BT)Let the young woman stay with us a few days, or even ten; afterward she will go.” ⁵⁶ And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since ^(BU)Yahweh has made my way successful. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the young woman and ask about ^[o]her wishes.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^(BV)her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose with her young women, and they mounted the camels and went after the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went.

Rebekah Becomes Isaac’s Wife

⁶² Now Isaac had come from going to ^(BY)Beer-lahai-roi, for he ^[p]was living in ^(BZ)the land of the ^[q]Negev. ⁶³ And Isaac went out ^(CA)to ^[r]muse in the field toward evening; and ^(CB)he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac and dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵ Then she 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 ^[s]veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ And the servant recounted to Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ^(CC)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^(CD)he loved her. Thus, Isaac was comforted after ^(CE)his mother’s death.