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1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

2 And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, “You shall make a solemn oath by placing your hand under my thigh:

3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, where we dwell;

4 but you shall go to my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 And the servant said to him, “What if the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land; must I bring your son again to the land from where you came?”

6 And Abraham said to him, “Beware that you must not take my son back to that land;

7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘Unto your seed will 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 shall be free from this oath; only shall you not bring my son there again.”

9 And 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 camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having his master's goods in hand; and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia[a], unto the town of Nahor.

11 And he made the camels to kneel down outside of town by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.

12 And he said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

14 and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, ‘Let down your pitcher please, that I may drink;’ and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also;’ let the same be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

15 And before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Give me to drink, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher.”

18 And she said, “Drink, my lord;” and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have done drinking.”

20 And she hastened to empty her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

21 And the man looked stedfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

22 And as the camels were done drinking, the man took a golden ring of [c]half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,

23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? tell me, I pray you. Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge in?”

24 And she said unto him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor.”

25 She then said to him, “We have a good store of straw and provender, and room enough to lodge you.”

26 And the man bowed his head, and worshipped the LORD.

27 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

28 And the damsel ran, and told her mother’s house according to these words.

29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, unto the fountain.

30 And when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, ‘Thus spake the man unto me;’ that he came to the man; as he was standing by the camels at the fountain.

31 And he said, “Come in, blessed of the LORD; why are you standing outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.”

32 And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him.

33 And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, “I will not eat, until I have told my story.” And he said, “Speak on.”

34 And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

35 And the LORD has blessed my master greatly; and he has become great; and he has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and handmaids, 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 of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,

38 but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.’

39 And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’

40 And he said unto me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and aid you; and you shall take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house.

41 Then you shall be free of my oath, when you come to my kindred; and if they do not give her to you, you shall be free from my oath.’

42 And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, as you aid me in the way which I go,

43 behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass that the maiden that comes forth to draw water, to whom I shall say, ‘Give me, please, a little water from your pitcher to drink;’

44 and she shall say to me, ‘Both you drink, and I will also draw water for your camels;’ let the same be the woman whom the LORD has given for my master’s son.

45 And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her, ‘Let me drink, I pray you.’

46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she made the camels drink also.

47 And I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him;’ and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.

48 And I bowed my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the way to take my master’s brother’s daughter 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 return and tell Abraham.”

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “This comes from the LORD, we cannot say yes or no.

51 Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.”

52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto the LORD.

53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away unto my master.”

55 And her brother and her mother said, “Let her stay with us for a few more days, at the least ten; after that she will go.”

56 And he said to them, “Hinder me not, seeing that the LORD has led me in my journey; send me away that I may go to my master.”

57 And they said, “We will call the girl[a] and ask her.”

58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto 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 unto her, “May our sister be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of their enemies.”

61 And Rebekah arose, and her handmaids[a], and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man; and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

62 At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the well of the living and seeing[a]; for he dwelt in the Southern lands[b].

63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide; and he lifted up his eyes and saw there were camels coming.

64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel.

65 And she said to the servant, “What man is this that walks in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “It is my master;” and she took her veil, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

[10] Genesis 24:10 Mesopotamia: Syria of the two floods: to wit, of Tigris and Euphrates. (Hebrew Aram-naharaim, that is, Aram of the two rivers.)

[22] Hebrew a beka. See Ex. 38:26.

[57] h.לַֽנַּעֲרָ֑ (lan·na·‘ă·rā;) the girl, i.e. 'her' (KJV: Rebekah, DRA: the maid)

[61] h.וְנַעֲרֹתֶ֗יהָ (wə·na·‘ă·rō·ṯe·hā,) “and her servant girls” (KJV: her damsels, DRA: maids)

[62a] Beer-lahai-roi, the well of lahai-roi (living and seeing).

[62b] NET: the Negev; other: south country.