A Wife for Isaac

1And Abraham was old, advanced in days. And YHWH had blessed Abraham in all things. 2And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, the one who is ruling over all that is his, “Put, please, your hand under my thigh, 3and I will make you swear by YHWH, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, among whom I am dwelling. 4But to my land and to my kindred you shall go, and you shall take a wife for my son, for Isaac.”

5And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Shall I surely cause your son to return to the land from which you came?”

6And Abraham said to him, “Take heed to yourself that you do not take my son there. 7YHWH, God of the heavens, who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your seed I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only, my son you shall not cause to return there.”

9And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and he swore to him concerning this matter.

10And the servant took ten camels from the camels of his lord, and he went—with all the goods of his lord in his hand—and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim,† to the city of Nahor. 11And he made the camels kneel … outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening, the time of the coming out of the women who draw water.

12And he said, “YHWH, God of my lord Abraham, please cause it to happen before me today, and do kindness to my lord Abraham. 13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14And it shall be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Let down, please, your jar, and I will drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and also I will water your camels,’ she is the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have done kindness to my lord.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

15And it came to pass, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was coming out, and her jar was on her shoulder. 16And the young woman was very beautiful of appearance, a virgin, and no man had known her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

17And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.”

18And she said, “Drink, my lord.” And she hurried and lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.

19And she finished giving him a drink, and she said, “Also for your camels I will draw until … they have finished drinking.” 20And she hurried, and she emptied her jar into the trough, and she ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

21And the man gazed at her remaining silent, to know whether YHWH had made his way prosperous or not.

22And it came to pass, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden ring, a beka its weight,† and two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels of gold their weight.† 23And he said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please. Is there a place in the house of your father for us to lodge?”

24And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25And she said to him, “Both straw and feed are abundant with us, and also a place to lodge.”

26And the man bowed his head and worshiped to YHWH. 27And he said, “Blessed be YHWH, God of my lord Abraham, who has not forsaken His kindness and His truth toward my lord; I, being on the way, YHWH has led me to the house of the brother of my lord.”

28And the young woman ran, and told these words to the house of her mother. 29And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran to the man, out to the spring. 30And it came to pass, when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” then he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

31And he said, “Come in, blessed of YHWH. Why do you stand outside? And I have cleared the house and a place for the camels.” 32And the man came into the house, and he loosened the camels, and he gave straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

33And food was set before him to eat, and he said, “I will not eat until … I have spoken my words.”

And he said, “Speak.”

34And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35And YHWH has blessed my lord greatly, and he has become great; and He has given to him flock and cattle, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. 36And Sarah, wife of my lord, bore a son to my lord after her old age, and he has given to him all that is his.

37And my lord made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I am dwelling. 38But rather, to the house of my father you shall go, and to my kindred, and you shall take a wife for my son.’

39And I said to my lord, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me?’

40And he said to me, ‘YHWH, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and will prosper your way, and you shall take a wife for my son from my kindred and from the house of my father. 41Then you will be clear from my oath—when you come to my kindred; and if they do not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

42And I came today to the spring and I said, ‘YHWH, God of my lord Abraham, if now You will prosper the way on which I am going— 43behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and let it be that the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her, ‘Give me to drink, please, a little water from your jar,’ 44and she says to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw’ for you and also for your camels, she is the woman whom YHWH has appointed for the son of my lord.

45And before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah was coming out, and her jar was on her shoulder. And she went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, ‘Give me a drink, please.’

46And she hurried and lowered her jar from herself and said, ‘Drink, and also your camels I will give drink.’ And I drank, and also she gave a drink to the camels.

47And I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ And I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. 48And I bowed my head and worshiped to YHWH, and I blessed YHWH, God of my lord Abraham, who led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of the brother of my lord for his son.

49And now if you⁺ are doing kindness and truth with my lord, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left.”

50And Laban answered—and Bethuel—and they said, “From YHWH the matter has gone out; we are not able to speak to you evil or good. 51Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be wife to the son of your lord, as YHWH has spoken.”

52And it came to pass, when the servant of Abraham heard their words, that bowed himself to the earth before YHWH. 53And the servant brought out articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah; and precious things he gave to her brother and to her mother. 54And they ate and they drank, he and the men who were with him, and they spent the night there.

And they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my lord.”

55And her brother said—and her mother—“Let the young woman stay with us a few days, or ten days. Afterward she may go.”

56And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since YHWH has prospered my way. Send me away so that I may go to my lord.”

57And they said, “Let us call for the young woman and let us ask at her mouth.”

58And they called for Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

And she said, “I will go.”

59And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister, become the mother

of thousands of myriads,

and may your seed possess

the gate of those who hate him.”

61And Rebekah and her young women arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. And the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

62And Isaac had come in from the entrance to Beer-lahai-roi, and he was dwelling in the Negev. 63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming.

64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and she saw Isaac, and she fell from upon the camel. 65And she said to the servant, “Who is this man, the one walking in the field to meet us?”

And the servant said, “He is my lord.” And she took the veil and covered herself. 66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

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