¹Now Abraham was old – he was advanced in days – and the Lord blessed Abraham in everything. ²And Abraham said to his senior household servant who was in charge of everything that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh, ³and I will adjure you by the Lord God of heaven and God of the earth, not to get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I dwell, ⁴but rather that you will go to my land and my native place to get a wife for my son, for Isaac.” ⁵And the servant said to him, “What if the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land? Should I under any circumstances bring your son back to the land which you departed from?” ⁶Then Abraham said to him, “Be careful not to bring my son back there. ⁷The Lord God of heaven who took me from my father's house and from my native land, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, and who said, ‘To your seed I will give this land’ – he will send his angel before you, and you will get a wife for my son from there. ⁸And if the woman is not willing to follow you, you will be absolved from this oath of mine, only you shall not bring my son back there.” ⁹So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him on this matter. ¹⁰Then the servant took ten camels from his master's camels and departed, with all his master's wealth in his hand, and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to Nahor's city. ¹¹And he made the camels kneel outside the city at the water well at evening time, at the time when the women who draw water come out. ¹²And he said, “Lord God of my master Abraham, please bring it about before me today, that you act kindly with my master Abraham. ¹³Look, I am standing at a source of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴So let it come to pass that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please tilt your pitcher so that I may drink’, and she says, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels water to drink too’, that you will have appointed her for your servant, for Isaac, and that by that I will know that you have acted kindly towards my master.” ¹⁵And this came to pass before he had finished speaking, and what happened was that out came Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶And the girl was very good-looking, a virgin, for no man had known her, and she came down to the source and filled her pitcher and came up. ¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink.” ¹⁸And she said, “Drink, my lord.” And she acted quickly and lowered her pitcher onto her hand and gave him water to drink. ¹⁹Then when she had finished giving him water to drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels too, until they finish drinking.” ²⁰And she acted quickly and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran to the well again to draw water, and she drew it for all his camels. ²¹And the man was astonished at her and was dumbfounded in knowing whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. ²²And it came to pass, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel in weight, and two bracelets of gold of ten shekels in weight for her hands. ²³And he said, “Whose daughter are you? Do tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge there?” ²⁴And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵And she said to him, “We also have plenty of straw and fodder and also room to lodge.” ²⁶Then the man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. ²⁷And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and truth towards my master. As for me, the Lord has led me along the way to the house of my master's brothers.” ²⁸Then the girl ran and told her mother's household these things. ²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran to the man outside, to the water-source. ³⁰And it came to pass, when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the account of Rebekah his sister, who said, “The man spoke to me like this”, that he went to the man, and there he was, standing with the camels at the water-source. ³¹And he said, “Come, you who are blessed of the Lord. Why should you stand outside, when I have prepared the house, and there is a place for the camels.” ³²Then the man came to the house and untied the camels, and he gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³And he set a meal before him to eat, and he said, “I will not eat until I have explained my mission.” And he said, “Explain it.” ³⁴And he said, “I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵And the Lord has blessed my master very much, and he has become great, and he has given him sheep and cattle and silver and gold and menservants and maidservants and camels and donkeys. ³⁶And Sarah my master's wife has given birth to a son to my master, after her old age, and he has given him everything he has. ³⁷And my master has made me swear, and he said, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. ³⁸You absolutely must go to the house of my father and to my family to get a wife for my son.’ ³⁹Then I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ ⁴⁰And he said to me, ‘The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with you and will make your journey successful, and you will get a wife for my son from my family and the household of my father. ⁴¹Then you will be absolved from my oath – when you go to my family. For if they do not give you a wife, you will be absolved from my oath.’ ⁴²When I came to the source today, I said, ‘Lord God of my master Abraham, if you would make my journey which I am going on successful, ⁴³when I am standing at a source of water, let it come to pass that the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her, «Please give me a little water from your pitcher», ⁴⁴and she says to me, «Both you drink and I will also draw water for your camels», that she is the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.’ ⁴⁵Then before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she came down to the source and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me some water to drink.’ ⁴⁶And she quickly lowered her pitcher from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’, so I drank, and she also gave the camels water to drink. ⁴⁷Then I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor whom Milcah bore to him.’ Then I put the earring on her face and the bracelets on her hands. ⁴⁸Then I bowed the head and worshipped the Lord, and I blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has led me along the way of truth to get the daughter of my master's brother for his son. ⁴⁹And now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me, and if not, tell me, and I will turn to the right or to the left accordingly.” ⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The matter has originated from the Lord. We cannot speak bad or good to you. ⁵¹Look, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and she shall be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken.” ⁵²And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshipped the Lord facing the ground. ⁵³Then the servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothes, and he gave them to Rebekah, and he gave valuable items to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴Then they ate and drank – he and the men who were with him – and they lodged there, and they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me off to my master.” ⁵⁵But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for ten days or so, and after that she can go.” ⁵⁶Then he said to them, “Do not delay me, considering that the Lord has made my journey successful. Send me off and I will go to my master.” ⁵⁷Then they said, “We will call the girl and ask her opinion.” ⁵⁸So they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹So they sent Rebekah their sister off, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“You are our sister.

Become thousands times ten thousand,

And may your seed inherit

The gate of those who hate it.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah arose, as did her maidservants, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. ⁶²Now Isaac was coming back from a trip to Beer-Lahai-Roi, for he dwelt in the land of the south. ⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the approach of evening, and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and what he saw was camels coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, and she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵Then she said to the servant, “Who is that man coming across in the field towards us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant recounted to Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her to the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother had gone.