UST GEN Chapter 24

Abraham Finds a Wife for Isaac

24:1-67

24 Abraham had lived a long time and was now very old, and Yahweh had blessed him in every way. 2 One day Abraham said to his chief household servant, who managed his entire estate for him, “Please put your hand under my thigh to show that you will do what I ask. 3 I want you to vow to me, with Yahweh the God who rules the heavens and the earth as your witness, that you will not arrange for my son Isaac to marry any of the Canaanite women who live around us here. 4 Rather, you must go to the country where I grew up, to my relatives who live there, and find a wife for him from there.”

5 But Abraham’s servant asked him, “What should I do if the young woman I find refuses to come back with me to this land to live? Do you want me to take your son back there to your home country to marry her and live there?” 6 Abraham answered him, “No, be sure that you never take my son back there to live, 7 because Yahweh, the God who rules the heavens, brought me here from my father’s household and from the land where the rest of my relatives live, and he vowed to me that he will give this land to my descendants. He will send one of his angels ahead of you to help you, so that you will find a woman from my home land for my son to marry. 8 But if the woman you find refuses to come back here with you, then you will be free from keeping this vow that you are making to me now. But no matter what happens, never take my son back to my home country!”

9 So Abraham’s servant put his hand under his master’s thigh and vowed to him that he would do what Abraham had requested him to do. 10 Then he got ten of his master’s camels ready for the trip, and after he loaded them with all kinds of valuable things from his master to use as gifts, he left with some other servants and made the long trip to the region of Aram Naharaim, to the city where Nahor lived. 11 When they arrived there, Abraham’s servant had the camels kneel down to rest outside the city near the well that was there. It was evening time, when the young women of the city were starting to come out to the well to draw water.

12 Then Abraham’s servant prayed, “Dear Yahweh, who is the God who takes care of my master Abraham, please help me succeed today and in that way be kind to my master. 13 As you see, I am standing by this well, and young women from the city are coming here to draw water. 14 Please make it happen that when I say to one of the young women, ‘Please lower your jug so that I can have a drink,’ she will say to me, ‘Have a drink and I will also draw water for your camels.’ Then I will know that she is the one you have chosen to be the wife of Isaac who serves you, and that you have been kind to my master.”

15 Before Abraham’s servant had even finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out of the city carrying a water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Milcah and Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 She was a very beautiful unmarried young woman, who had never had marital relations with a man. She walked down to the well, filled her jug with water and came back up carrying it on her shoulder.

17 Then Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and said to her, “Please let me have a little water to drink from your jug.” 18 She replied, “Please have a drink, sir.” Then she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder to her hands and let him drink some water from it. 19 After that, she said to him, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.” 20 Then she quickly emptied the rest of the water from her jug into the animal drinking trough that was there and ran back and forth to the well to draw more water, until she had drawn enough for all of the camels. 21 Meanwhile Abraham’s servant silently watched Rebekah and waited to find out whether or not Yahweh had made him successful on his journey to find a wife for Isaac.

22 Finally, when the camels had finished drinking, the servant gave Rebekah a gold nose ring that weighed one beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists that weighed ten shekels each. 23 Then he asked her, “Please tell me who your father is. Also, is there room at his house for me and my men to spend the night there?” 24 Rebekah answered him, “My father is Bethuel, and he is one of Nahor and Milcah’s sons.” 25 Then she added, “We have plenty of both straw and other feed at our house for the camels to eat, and there is also enough room for you all to stay there tonight.” 26 Then the servant bowed to the ground and worshiped Yahweh, 27 by saying, “Praise Yahweh, the God who takes care of my master Abraham! He has never stopped being kind and faithful to my master, and he has guided me on my journey here to the home of my master’s relatives!”

28 Then Rebekah hurried home and told her mother’s family about what had happened. 29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and he rushed out to the well where Abraham’s servant was. 30 As soon as Laban had seen the nose ring that his sister was wearing and the bracelets on her arms and had heard her announce what the servant had said to her, he went out to meet him. He found him standing with his camels at the well. 31 Then Laban said to him, “Come with me, you whom Yahweh has blessed. There is no need for you to stand out here. I have gotten our house ready for you and your men to stay with us and there is also a place for your camels to stay.”

32 So Abraham’s servant went home with Laban. When they arrived there, Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and other feed to them to eat. He also gave water to the servant and the men who were with him to wash their feet. 33 Then Laban’s family served them a meal to eat, but the servant said to them, “Before I can eat, I need to tell you why I am here.” Laban responded to him, “Please tell us what you have to say.”

34 So the servant told them, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 Yahweh has abundantly blessed my master, so that he has become wealthy. Yahweh has given him many sheep and cattle, much silver and gold, many male and female servants, and many camels and donkeys. 36 Besides that, my master’s wife Sarah gave birth to a son for him when she was old, and my master has given him everything that he owns. 37 Before I came here, my master made me vow to do something for him. He said, ‘You must not arrange for my son Isaac to marry any of the Canaanite women whose land we have been living in. 38 Rather, go to my father’s family, to my own relatives, and find a wife for my son from among them.’ 39 So I asked my master, ‘What should I do if the young woman I find refuses to come back here with me?’ 40 He answered me, ‘Yahweh whom I serve will send one of his angels with you. He will make you succeed on your journey, so that you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, someone from my father’s family. 41 At that time you will be free from keeping the vow you are making to me: If you find a wife for Isaac but my family refuses to let her go with you, then you will be free from keeping your vow to me.’

42 “Then today when I came to your city’s well, I prayed, ‘Dear Yahweh, who is the God who takes care of my master Abraham, if you are willing, please give me success on this journey that I have made. 43 As you see, I am standing here near this well. Please make it happen that when a young woman comes out of the city to draw water and I ask her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jug,” 44 if she replies, “Yes, have a drink and I will also draw water for your camels,” then let her be the woman whom you Yahweh have chosen to be the wife of my master’s son.’

45 “Before I had even finished praying quietly, suddenly I saw Rebekah coming out of the city carrying her empty water jug on her shoulder. She walked down to the well and filled her jug with water, so I asked her, ‘May I please have a drink of water?’ 46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Have a drink, and I will also draw water for your camels.’ So I took a drink from her jug, and she also gave water to my camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ She answered, ‘My father is Bethuel, who is one of Nahor and Milcah’s sons.’ After that I gave her a nose ring and bracelets to wear. 48 Then I bowed to the ground and worshiped and praised Yahweh, the God who takes care of my master Abraham, because he guided me right where I should go to find the granddaughter of my master’s brother to be the wife for my master’s son. 49 So now, please tell me whether or not you are willing to be kind and faithful to my master by letting her come with me, so that I can decide what to do next.”

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered Abraham’s servant, “It is clear that Yahweh has made all this happen, so it is not our place to tell you anything different. 51 Look, here is Rebekah. Take her with you and return home so that she can marry your master’s son as Yahweh has guided.” 52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed to the ground and thanked Yahweh. 53 Then he took out expensive gifts, including silver and gold jewelry, and also beautiful clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and mother.

54 Then Abraham’s servant and his men ate supper and slept there that night. Early the next morning after everyone got up, Abraham’s servant said to Rebekah’s family, “Please let me return home now to my master.” 55 But Rebekah’s brother and her mother replied, “Please let the young woman stay here with us for another ten days or so. Then you can go and take her with you.” 56 But the servant said to them, “Please do not delay me. Now that Yahweh has made my journey successful, let me go so that I can return to my master.” 57 So they replied, “Let’s call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.”

58 So they called for her and asked her, “Do you want to go now with this man?” She answered them, “Yes, I will go now.” 59 So they agreed to send their sister Rebekah and her personal servant who had helped raise her, with Abraham’s servant and his companions. 60 They blessed Rebekah by saying to her,

“Sister, we pray that God will give you

countless thousands of descendants,

and that he will help them conquer

all their enemies and rule over them!” 61 After Rebekah and her servants who were going with her packed their things, they got up on the camels they were going to ride and went with Abraham’s servant. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah with him and started the journey back home.

62 Meanwhile Isaac returned home from visiting the place called Beer Lahai Roi. At that time he was living in the Negev Wilderness. 63 One day as it was becoming evening, he went to the field to pray. As he was praying, he looked up and suddenly he saw in the distance some camels coming toward him. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. Immediately she got down from the camel that she was riding, 65 and asked Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man in the field who is walking this way to greet us?” The servant answered her, “He is my master Isaac.” So she covered her face with a veil to show modesty.

66 Then the servant told Isaac everything that he had done on the journey. 67 Then Isaac took Rebekah into the tent where his mother Sarah had lived, and he married her, so that she became his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was happy again after mourning for his mother who had died.