Chapter 24 - Chapter 24

Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; andthe Lord had blessed him in all things.2 And he said to the elder servant of his house,who was ruler over all he had: Put thy handunder my thigh,3 That I may make thee swear by the Lord, theGod of heaven and earth, that thou take not awife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:4 But that thou go to my own country andkindred, and take a wife from thence for my sonIsaac.5 The servant answered: If the woman will notcome with me into this land, must I bring thy sonback again to the place from whence thou camestout?6 And Abraham said: Beware thou neverbring my son back again thither.7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me out28 Book of Genesisof my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying:To thy seed will I give this land: he will sendhis angel before thee, and thou shalt take fromthence a wife for my son.8 But if the woman will not follow thee, thoushalt not be bound by the oath: only bring notmy son back thither again.9 The servant, therefore, put his hand underthe thigh of Abraham, his lord, and swore to himupon his word.10 And he took ten camels of his master'sherd, and departed, carrying something of all hisgoods with him, and he set forward and went onto Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.11 And when he had made the camels lie downwithout the town, near a well of water, in theevening, at the time when women are wont tocome out to draw water, he said:12 O Lord, the God of my master, Abraham,meet me today, I beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master, Abraham.13 Behold, I stand nigh the spring of water,and the daughters of the inhabitants of this citywill come out to draw water:14 Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shallsay: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink:and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thycamels drink also: let it be the same whom thouhast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this,I shall understand that thou hast shewn kindnessto my master.15 He had not yet ended these words withinhimself, and behold Rebecca came out, thedaughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcheron her shoulder:16 An exceeding comely maid, and a mostbeautiful virgin, and not known to man: and shewent down to the spring, and filled her pitcher,and was coming back.17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said:Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.18 And she answered: Drink, my lord. Andquickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm,and gave him drink.19 And when he had drunk, she said: I willdraw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.20 And pouring out the pitcher into thetroughs, she ran back to the well to draw water;and having drawn, she gave to all the camels.21 But he musing, beheld her with silence,desirous to know whether the Lord had madehis journey prosperous or not.22 And after that the camels had drunk, theman took out golden earrings, weighing twosicles; and as many bracelets, of ten sicles weight.23 And he said to her: Whose daughter artthou? tell me: is there any place in thy father'shouse to lodge?24 And she answered: I am the daughter ofBathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore toNachor.25 And she said, moreover, to him: We havegood store of both straw and hay, and a largeplace to lodge in.26 The man bowed himself down, and adoredthe Lord,27 Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of mymaster Abraham, who hath not taken away hismercy and truth from my master, and hathbrought me the straight way into the house ofmy master's brother.28 Then the maid ran, and told in hermother's house all that she had heard.29 And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban,who went out in haste to the man, to the well.30 And when he had seen the earrings andbracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard allthat she related, saying, Thus and thus the manBook of Genesis 29spoke to me: he came to the man who stood bythe camels, and near to the spring of water,31 And said to him: Come in, thou blessedof the Lord; why standest thou without? I haveprepared the house, and a place for the camels.32 And he brought him into his lodging; andhe unharnessed the camels, and gave straw andhay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet ofthe men that were come with him.33 And bread was set before him. But he said:I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answeredhim: Speak.34 And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:35 And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hathgiven him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, menservants and women servants, camels and asses.36 And Sara, my master's wife, hath borne mymaster a son in her old age, and he hath givenhim all that he had.37 And my master made me swear, saying:Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of theChanaanites, in whose land I dwell:38 But thou shalt go to my father's house, andshalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:39 But I answered my master: What if thewoman will not come with me?40 The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk,will send his angel with thee, and will direct thyway: and thou shalt take a wife for my son ofmy own kindred, and of my father's house.41 But thou shalt be clear from my curse,when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they willnot give thee one.42 And I came today to the well of water,and said: O Lord God of my master, Abraham,if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I nowwalk,43 Behold, I stand by the well of water, andthe virgin, that shall come out to draw water,who shall hear me say: Give me a little water todrink of thy pitcher:44 And shall say to me: Both drink thou, andI will also draw for thy camels: let the same bethe woman, whom the Lord hath prepared formy master's son.45 And whilst I pondered these things secretlywith myself, Rebecca appeared, coming with apitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: andshe went down to the well and drew water. AndI said to her: Give me a little to drink.46 And she speedily let down the pitcher fromher shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou,and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, andshe watered the camels.47 And I asked her, and said: Whose daughterart thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melchabore to him. So I put earrings on her to adornher face, and I put bracelets on her hands.48 And falling down, I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master, Abraham, whohath brought me the straight way to take thedaughter of my master's brother for his son.49 Wherefore, if you do according to mercyand truth with my master, tell me: but if itplease you otherwise, tell me that also, that Imay go to the right hand, or to the left.50 And Laban and Bathuel answered: Theword hath proceeded from the Lord: we cannotspeak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.51 Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take herand go thy way, and let her be the wife of thymaster's son, as the Lord hath spoken.52 Which when Abraham's servant heard,falling down to the ground, he adored the Lord.53 And bringing forth vessels of silver andgold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca,for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.30 Book of Genesis54 And a banquet was made, and they ateand drank together, and lodged there. And inthe morning, the servant arose, and said: Letme depart, that I may go to my master.55 And her brother and mother answered: Letthe maid stay, at least, ten days with us, andafterwards she shall depart.56 Stay me not, said he, because the Lordhath prospered my way: send me away, that Imay go to my master.57 And they said: Let us call the maid, andask her will.58 And they called her, and when she wascome, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man?She said: I will go.59 So they sent her away, and her nurse, andAbraham's servant, and his company.60 Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase tothousands of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.61 So Rebecca and her maids, being set uponcamels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.62 At the same time, Isaac was walking alongthe way to the well which is called Of the livingand the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country:63 And he was gone forth to meditate in thefield, the day being now well spent: and whenhe had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels comingafar off.64 Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lightedoff the camel,65 And said to the servant: Who is that manwho cometh towards us along the field? And hesaid to her: That man is my master. But shequickly took her cloak, and covered herself.66 And the servant told Isaac all that he haddone.67 Who brought her into the tent of Sara hismother, and took her to wife: and he loved herso much, that it moderated the sorrow which wasoccasioned by his mother's death.