NIV 2011
Isaac and Rebekah: A Divine Match
24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”
57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
WYC 1382
Isaac and Rebekah: A Divine Match
24 Forsooth Abraham was eld, and of many days, and the Lord had blessed him in all things. 2 And he said to the elder servant of his house, that was sovereign on all things that he had, Put thou thine hand under mine hip, 3 that I conjure thee by the Lord God of heaven and of earth, that thou take not a wife to my son of the daughters of Canaan, among which I dwell; 4 but that thou go to my land and kindred, and thereof take a wife to my son Isaac.
5 The servant answered, If the woman will not come with me into this land, whether I ought to lead again thy son to the place, from which thou wentest out?
6 Abraham said, Beware, lest any time thou lead again thither my son; 7 the Lord God of heaven that took me from the house of my father, and from the land of my birth, which spake to me, and swore (to me), and said, I shall give this land to thy seed, (yea,) he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife to my son; 8 forsooth if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be holden by the oath; nevertheless lead not again my son thither. 9 Therefore the servant putted his hand under the hip of Abraham, his lord, and swore to him on this word
10 And he took ten camels of the flock of his lord, and went forth, and bare with him of all the goods of his lord and he went forth, and came to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
11 And when he had made the camels to rest without the city, beside a well of water, in the eventide, in that time in which women be wont to go out to draw water,
12 he said, Lord God of my lord Abraham, I beseech, meet with me today, and do mercy with my lord Abraham. 13 Lo! I stand nigh the well of water, and the daughters of the dwellers of this city shall go out to draw water; 14 therefore the damsel to which I shall say, Bow down thy water pot (so) that I (may) drink, and (she) shall answer, Drink thou, but also I shall give drink to thy camels, that it is which thou hast made ready to thy servant Isaac; and by this I shall understand that thou hast done mercy to my lord Abraham.
15 And he had not yet [ful-]filled the words within himself, and lo! Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, went out, having a water pot in her shoulder; 16 a damsel full comely/full shapely, and fairest virgin, and unknown of man. Soothly she came down to the well, and filled the water pot, and turned again.
17 And the servant met her, and said, Give thou to me a little of the water of thy pot to drink
18 Which answered, Drink thou, my lord. And anon she did down the water pot on her shoulder, and gave drink to him.
19 And when he had drunk, she said, But also I shall draw water to thy camels, till all have drunk. 20 And she poured out the water pot in(to) (the) troughs, and ran (down) again to the well, to draw (some more) water, and she gave (the) water drawn to all the camels. 21 Soothly he beheld her privily, and would wit whether the Lord had sped his way, or nay.
22 Therefore after that the camels had drunk, the man brought forth golden earrings, weighing two shekels, and as many bands of the arm, in the weight of ten shekels. 23 And he said to her, Whose daughter art thou? show thou to me (and tell me), is [there] any place in the house of thy father (for us) to dwell in?
24 Which answered, I am the daughter of Bethuel, (the) son of Nahor, whom Milcah childed to him. 25 And she added, saying, Also full much of provender and of hay is at us , and a large place to dwell in.
26 (And) The man bowed himself (down), and worshipped the Lord, 27 and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which took not away his mercy and truth from my lord, and led me by the right way, into the house of the brother of my lord.
28 And so the damsel ran, and told in the house of her mother all (the) things which she had heard. 29 Soothly Rebecca had a brother, Laban by name, which went out hastily to the man, where he was withoutforth. 30 And when he had seen the earrings, and bands of the arm in the hands of his sister, and had heard all the words of her, telling, The man spake to me these things, he came to the man that stood beside the camels, and nigh the well of water, 31 and said to him, Enter thou, the blessed of the Lord; why standest thou withoutforth? I have made ready the house, and a place to thy camels.
32 And he brought him into the inn, and unsaddled the camels, and gave provender, and hay, and water to wash the feet of the camels, and (the feet) of (the) men that came with him. 33 And bread was set forth in his sight, the which said, I shall not eat till I speak my words. He answered to the man, Speak thou.
34 And the man said, I am the servant of Abraham, 35 and the Lord hath blessed my lord greatly, and he is made great; and God gave to him sheep, and oxen, silver, and gold, servants, and handmaids, and camels, and asses. 36 And Sarah, my lord’s wife, childed a son to my lord in his eld (age), and Abraham, my lord, hath given all things that he had to that son. 37 And my lord charged me greatly, and said, Thou shalt not take to my son a wife of the daughters of Canaan, in whose land I dwell, 38 but thou shalt go to the house of my father, and of my kindred thou shalt take a wife to my son.
39 Forsooth I answered to my lord, What if the woman will not come with me?
40 (And) He said, The Lord, in whose sight I go, shall send his angel with thee, and shall direct thy way; and thou shalt take a wife to my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house. 41 Thou shalt be innocent from my curse, when thou comest to my kinsmen, and they give not her to thee.
42 Therefore I came today to the well of water, and (I) said, Lord God of my lord Abraham, if thou hast directed my way in which I go now, 43 lo! I stand beside the well of water, and the maid[en] that shall go out to draw water, (who) heareth me (say to her), Give thou to me a little of water to drink (out) of thy pot, 44 and she say to me, And thou drink, and I shall draw water to thy camels, that is the woman which the Lord hath made ready to the son of my lord.
45 While I turned in thought these things with(in) me, Rebecca appeared, coming with a pot which she bare in her shoulder; and she went down to the well, and drew water. And I said to her, Give thou a little to me to drink;
46 and she hasted, and did down the pot (from) off the shoulder, and said to me, And thou drink, and I shall give drink to thy camels; (and so) I drank, and she watered the camels.
47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou?
Which answered, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah childed to him.
And so I hanged earrings to adorn her face, and I put bands of the arm in her hands, 48 and low-like I worshipped the Lord, and I blessed the Lord God of my lord Abraham, which God led me by the right way, that I should take the daughter of the brother of my lord to his son. 49 Wherefore if ye do mercy and truth with my lord, show ye to me; else if (an)other thing pleaseth (thee), also say ye this, (so) that I (know to) go to the right side, or to the left side.
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, The word is gone out of the Lord; we may not speak any other thing with thee without his pleasance. 51 Lo! Rebecca is before thee; take thou her, and go forth, and be she [the] wife of the son of thy lord, as the Lord spake.
52 And when the servant of Abraham had heard this, he felled down, and worshipped the Lord in (the) earth. 53 And when vessels of silver, and of gold, and clothes were brought forth, he gave those to Rebecca for (a) gift, and he (also) gave gifts to her brethren, and (to her) mother. 54 And when a feast was made, they ate and drank together, and dwelled there.
Forsooth the servant rose (up) early, and said, Deliver ye me, (so) that I (may) go (now) to my lord.
55 Her brethren and mother answered, The damsel dwell namely ten days at us, and afterward she shall go forth.
56 (But) The servant said, Do not ye hold me, for the Lord hath directed my way; deliver ye me, (so) that I (may) go (now) to my lord.
57 And they said, Call we the damsel, and ask we her will. 58 And when she was called, and came, they asked her, Wilt thou go with this man?
And she said, I shall go.
59 Therefore they delivered her, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham, and his fellows, 60 and wished prosperities to their sister, and said,
Thou art our sister, increase thou
into a thousand thousands,
and thy seed wield
the gates of his enemies.
61 Therefore Rebecca and her damsels ascended on the camels, and followed the man, which turned again hastily to his lord.
62 In that time Isaac walked by the way that leadeth to the well, whose name is of him that liveth and seeth; for he dwelled in the south land. 63 And he went out to think in the field, for the day was bowed [down] then; and when he had raised [up] his eyes, he saw camels coming (from) afar. 64 And when Isaac was seen, Rebecca lighted down off the camel,65 and said to the servant, Who is that man that cometh by the field into the meeting of us?
And the servant said to her, It is my lord. And she took soon a mantle, and covered her.
66 Forsooth the servant told to his lord Isaac all (the) things which he had done; 67 Isaac led her into the tabernacle of Sarah, his mother, and took her to wife; and so much he loved her, that he assuaged the sorrow which befell to him of the death of his mother.
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