Genesis 24 — Legacy Standard Bible

A Wife for Isaac

24Now ^aAbraham was old, advanced in age; and Yahweh had ^bblessed Abraham in every way. ²And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who ^aruled over all that he owned, “^bPlease place your hand under my thigh, ³and I will make you swear by Yahweh, ^athe God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^bshall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^cthe Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴but you will go to ^amy land and to my kin, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵And 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?” ⁶Then Abraham said to him, “^aBeware lest you take my son back there! ⁷“^aYahweh, 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, ‘^bTo your seed I will give this land,’ He will send ^cHis 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 ^abe free from this oath of mine; ^bonly do not take my son back there.” ⁹So the servant ^aplaced his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and he went with all kinds of ^agood things of his master’s in his hand. So he arose and went to ¹Mesopotamia, to ^bthe city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^athe well of water at evening time, ^bthe time when the women go out to draw water. ¹²And he said, “^aO Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please ^bcause this to happen before me today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³“Behold, ^aI am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴now 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^aAnd before he had finished speaking, behold, ^bRebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^cMilcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, was coming out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶Now the young woman was ^avery beautiful in appearance, a virgin, and no man had ¹known her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “^aPlease give me a little water to drink from your jar.” ¹⁸^aAnd she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^ashe said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰So 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^aMeanwhile, the man was gazing at her ¹in silence, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.

²²Now it happened that when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^agold ring weighing a ¹half-shekel and two bracelets for her ²wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there a place for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴And she said to him, “^aI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵And she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and a place to lodge in.” ²⁶Then the man ^abowed low and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷And he said, “^aBlessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^bHis lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^cYahweh has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸Then ^athe young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^aLaban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰Now it happened, when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s ¹wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “²This is what the man said to me,” he came out to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹And he said, “^aCome in, ^bblessed of Yahweh! Why do you stand outside since ^cI have prepared the house and a place for the camels?” ³²So the man came into the house. Then ¹^,^aLaban 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. ³³Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have spoken my words.” And he said, “Speak!” ³⁴So he said, “I am ^aAbraham’s servant. ³⁵“And Yahweh has greatly ^ablessed my master, so he has become great; and He has given him ^bflocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶“Now ^aSarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master ¹in her old age, and ^bhe has given him all that he has. ³⁷“^aAnd 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 ¹live; ³⁸but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹“^aThen I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰“And he said to me, ‘^aYahweh, before whom I have ^bwalked, will send ^cHis 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^aThen 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 ^aI 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 ^bsuccessful; ⁴³behold, ^aI am standing by the spring of water, and may it be that the ¹maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “^bPlease let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴and 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 ^aspeaking in my heart, behold, ^bRebekah was coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew, and ^cI said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶“Then she hurried and lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘^aDrink, 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“^aThen 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 ^bring on her nose and the bracelets on her ¹wrists. ⁴⁸“And I ^abowed low and worshiped Yahweh; and I blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, ^bwho had guided me in the true way to take the daughter of my master’s ¹relative for his son. ⁴⁹“So now if you are going to ^ashow lovingkindness and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “^aThe matter comes from Yahweh; ^bso 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.”

⁵²Now it happened that when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he ^abowed himself to the ground ¹before Yahweh. ⁵³The servant brought out ^aarticles 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. ⁵⁴Then 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, “^aSend me away to my master.” ⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, “^aLet the young woman stay with us a few days, or even ten; afterward she will go.” ⁵⁶And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since ^aYahweh has made my way successful. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷And they said, “We will call the young woman and ask about ¹her wishes.” ⁵⁸Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^aher nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister,^aBecome thousands of ten thousands,And may ^byour seed possessThe gate of those who hate him.”

⁶¹Then 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

⁶²Now Isaac had come from going to ^aBeer-lahai-roi, for he ¹was living in ^bthe land of the ²Negev. ⁶³And Isaac went out ^ato ¹muse in the field toward evening; and ^bhe lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac and dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵Then 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 ¹veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant recounted to Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ^ahe took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^bhe loved her. Thus, Isaac was comforted after ^chis mother’s death.