A Wife for Isaac
241Abraham was very old, well into old age. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2Abraham said to his servant, the senior supervisor of his house, who was in charge of everything that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3You must swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 4Instead, you shall go to my country and to my relatives and acquire a wife for my son Isaac.”
5The servant said to him, “What if the woman is not willing to follow me to this land? In that case, should I take your son back to the land that you came from?”
6Abraham said to him, “Let me make it very clear to you that you are not to take my son back there again. 7The Lord, the God of heaven, took me away from my father's house and from the land of my birth. He spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’[] The Lord will send his angel ahead of you, so you shall find a wife for my son from there. 8If the woman is not willing to follow you, you will be released from this oath. But under no circumstances shall you take my son back there.” 9The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. 10The servant took ten of his master's camels and set out. He took a variety of goods from his master with him. He set out and went to Aram of the Two Rivers[] to the city of Nahor. 11He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13Here I am, standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14Let this be the test: The young lady to whom I say, ‘Please let down your water jar, so that I may drink,’ will say, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ She will be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This is how I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” 15Before he had even finished speaking, out came Rebekah with her water jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother. 16The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, who had never been intimate with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her water jar, and came up. 17The servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a drink, a little water from your water jar.”
18She said, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly let down her water jar into her hands and gave him a drink. 19When she was done giving him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have finished drinking.” 20She hurried and emptied her water jar into the trough, ran to the well again to draw more water, and drew water for all his camels.
21The man remained silent and watched her carefully to find out whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. 22Then, when the camels were finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring that weighed half a shekel and two gold bracelets that weighed ten shekels[] for her wrists. 23Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room for us to stay in your father's house?” 24She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25She also said to him, “We have both straw and enough feed and enough room for you to spend the night.”
26The man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. 27He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and faithfulness toward my master. Indeed, the Lord has guided me to the house of my master's relatives.”
28The young lady ran and told her mother's household about these things. 29Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out to the spring to meet the man. 30When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and after he heard the words from Rebekah his sister, who said, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to find the man. And there he was, standing next to the camels by the spring. 31Laban said, “Come with me, you who are blessed by the Lord. Why are you standing outside when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”
