Genesis 24

₁Abraham became very old and the Lord blessed him in everything.

₂Abraham called his chief_slave. He was the oldest slave who had to look after everything that Abraham had and he said to him: ‘Put your hand_between_my_legs and make a promise to me. ₃You must make me a promise and the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, will be our Witness. You must promise me that you will choose a wife for my son Isaac, but she must not be from the people here in the land of Canaan where I live. ₄You must go back to the land where I was born and find a wife for my son Isaac there. She must be one of my family.’

₅The chief_slave said to Abraham: ‘If the woman that I choose does not want to come with me to this land, must I then take Isaac there so that he can look for a wife?’

₆Abraham answered: ‘No. You must never take my son to that land. ₇The Lord, the God of heaven, took me from my father's family and from the land where I was born. He made a promise and said He would give this land, Canaan, to my descendants. The Lord will send his angel with you. You must choose a wife for my son, Isaac, from that land. ₈If you choose a woman but she does not want to come with you, then you can forget about your promise to me and you do not have to do what you have promised me. But you must never take my son back to that land.’

₉The chief_slave promised Abraham that he would do everything that Abraham asked him to do.

₁₀The chief_slave took 10 of Abraham's camels and he took all kinds of gifts from Abraham with him. He went to the land of Mesopotamia, to the town where Nahor lived.

₁₁When the chief_slave got to the land of Mesopotamia, he let the camels rest near the water-well outside the town. It was late in the afternoon, the time when the women came from the town to get water.

₁₂The chief_slave prayed and said: ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please be good to my master and help me to do what I have promised. Help me to find a wife for his son. ₁₃I am here at the water-well where the young women from the town will come to get water. ₁₄I will ask one of the women to give me some water to drink from her jar. If she says: “Yes, drink and I will also give you water for your camels,” then I will know that she is the person that You have chosen to be the wife of your servant Isaac. I will know then that you were good to my master.’

₁₅Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came from the town. She carried a water jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was the son of Abraham's brother, Nahor, and his wife Milkah. ₁₆Rebekah was a beautiful young woman and no man had ever had sex with her. She went down to the water-well and filled her jar with water. When she came up from the well, ₁₇Abraham's chief_slave ran to her and said: ‘Please give me some water to drink from your jar.’

₁₈Rebekah said: ‘Please drink, sir,’ and she took the jar from her shoulder and let him drink.

₁₉After he had finished drinking, she said: ‘I will also give your camels water. They can drink as much as they need.’

₂₀There was a place for animals to drink water and she quickly poured out water and went to the water-well again to get more water for all the camels.

₂₁Abraham's chief_slave did not say anything. He looked at Rebekah for a long time. He wanted to know if she was the woman that the Lord had chosen.

₂₂When the camels had had enough water, the chief_slave took out a nose-ring and 2 big golden bracelets. He put the ring onto her nose and he put the bracelets on her arms.

₂₃Then he said: ‘Please tell me who your father is. Is there place for us to stay in his house tonight?’

₂₄She said: ‘My father's name is Bethuel. He is the son of Nahor and Milkah. ₂₅We have place for you to sleep and a lot of straw and hay for the camels.’

₂₆Then the chief_slave bowed down and worshipped the Lord. He said: ₂₇‘I praise You, Lord, God of my master Abraham. You kept your promise to my master, and You brought me to the family of my master.’

₂₈Rebekah ran to her mother's home and she told her family everything that had happened. _29-30Her brother's name was Laban. Laban listened to Rebekah and what she said about Abraham's chief_slave. Laban also saw the nose-ring and the bracelets on her arms. Laban ran out to Abraham's chief_slave. He was standing near his camels at the water-well. ₃₁Then Laban said to him: ‘The Lord has blessed you. Come to our home. Do not stand outside. I have a room in our home where you can sleep and there is also place for your camels.’

₃₂Abraham's chief_slave went into the house with Laban. They took all the gifts from the backs of the camels and they gave the camels straw and hay. Then they gave water to Abraham's chief_slave and his men to wash their feet.

₃₃They gave them food to eat, but the chief_slave said: ‘Before I eat, I must first tell you why I have come here.’

Laban said: ‘You may talk. We will listen.’

₃₄The chief_slave said: ‘I am Abraham's chief_slave. ₃₅The Lord has been good to my master, and He has made Abraham very rich. He has given him lots of sheep, goats and cattle, lots of silver and gold, and lots of slaves, camels and donkeys. ₃₆My master's wife was Sarah. She did not have any children at first, but when she was very old, she had a son. Abraham has given everything that he has to this son. ₃₇I had to promise my master that his son would not marry a woman from the land of Canaan where he stays. He told me not to choose a wife for his son from the girls in the land of Canaan. ₃₈He said I must come here to the land where he was born and I must find a wife for his son here, from his family. ₃₉Then I asked my master: “If the girl does not want to come with me, what must I do?”

₄₀My master answered: “I have always listened to the Lord. He will send his angel to help you find a wife for my son from my family. ₄₁But if her people do not want her to come back with you, then you can forget about your promise to me, and you don't have to do it.” ’

₄₂The chief_slave said: ‘When I came to the water-well today, I prayed and asked the Lord: “Lord, God of my master, please help me to do what I have come to do. ₄₃I will stand at the water-well and I will wait for a girl to come from the town to get water. I will ask her to let me drink water from her jar. ₄₄If she gives me water to drink and she says that she will also give water to my camels, then I will know that she is the right one, the woman that You have chosen for the son of my master.”

₄₅Before I had finished praying, Rebekah came to the well to get water. She had a water jar on her shoulder and she went down to the water-well to get water. When she filled her jar with water, I asked her to give me some water to drink. ₄₆She did not wait. She took her jar from her shoulder and she gave me water to drink. Then she said: “I will also get water for your camels.”

I drank the water and she got water for my camels. ₄₇I asked her who her father was and she said her father was Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milkah. Then I put the nose-ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. ₄₈I bowed down and I worshipped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has brought me to the family of my master and I have found a wife for his son. ₄₉Now please tell me, will you do what my master wants? Will you be good to him? If you don't want to do it, tell me, and then I will decide what I must do.’

₅₀Laban and Bethuel answered and said: ‘The Lord has brought you here. There is nothing that we can say to change it. ₅₁You can take Rebekah with you. She can marry the son of your master, like the Lord has said.’

₅₂Abraham's chief_slave bowed down and worshipped the Lord. ₅₃Then he took out clothes and silver and golden jewellery and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave beautiful gifts to her brother Laban and her mother.

₅₄Abraham's chief_slave and the men with him ate the food and drank wine, and they slept there that night. The next morning they got up and the chief_slave said to Rebekah's mother and brother: ‘Now we must go back to my master.’

₅₅They answered: ‘No, we want Rebekah to stay with us for 10 days, and then she may go.’

₅₆But the chief_slave said: ‘Please do not say we must stay longer. The Lord has helped me to do what I have come to do. Please let me go back now.’

₅₇They answered: ‘Let us call Rebekah herself and listen to what she says.’

₅₈They called Rebekah and asked her: ‘Do you want to go with this man now?’

And Rebekah answered: ‘Yes, I want to go with him.’

₅₉They let Rebekah, and the woman who had raised her when she was a baby, go with Abraham's slave and the men with him. ₆₀They blessed Rebekah and said:

₆₁Then Rebekah and her slave women took all their things, they got onto their camels and went with Abraham's slave.

₆₂Isaac came from the town of Beer-Lahai-Roi. He lived in the southern part of Canaan. ₆₃One afternoon he was walking in the field when he saw a group of people on camels and he started walking to them. ₆₄When Rebekah saw him coming, she got down from her camel ₆₅and she asked: ‘Who is that man?’

The chief_slave answered and said: ‘He is Isaac, the son of my master Abraham.’

Rebekah put her veil over her face.

₆₆The chief_slave told Isaac everything that had happened.

₆₇Isaac took Rebekah into the tent where his mother, Sarah, had stayed before she died. Isaac married Rebekah and he loved her. She made Isaac happy and he stopped feeling sad about his mother who had died.