Abraham’s servant, sent by him into Mesopotamia, brings from thence Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.

¹ Now Abraham was old and of many days. And the Lord had blessed him in all things.

² And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was in charge of all that he had: “Place your hand under my thigh,

³ so that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.

⁴ But that you will proceed to my land and kindred, and from there take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant responded, “If the woman is not willing to come with me into this land, must I lead your son back to the place from which you departed?”

⁶ And Abraham said: “Beware that you never lead my son back to that place.

⁷ The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ himself will send his Angel before you, and you will take from there a wife for my son.¹

1. 24:7He will send his angel before you: This shows that the Hebrews believed that God gave them guardian angels for their protection.(Challoner)

⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, you will not be held by the oath. Only do not lead my son back to that place.”

⁹ Therefore, the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his lord, and he swore to him on his word.

¹⁰ And he took ten camels from his lord’s herd, and he went forth, carrying with him things from all of his goods. And he set out, and continued on, to the city of Nahor, in Mesopotamia.

¹¹ And when he had made the camels lie down outside of the town, near a well of water, in the evening, at the time when women are accustomed to go out to draw water, he said:

¹² “O Lord, the God of my lord Abraham, meet with me today, I beg you, and show mercy to my lord Abraham.

¹³ Behold, I stand near the fountain of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will go forth to draw water.

¹⁴ Therefore, the girl to whom I will say, ‘Tip your pitcher, so that I may drink,’ and she will respond, ‘Drink. In fact, I will give your camels a drink also,’ the same one is she whom you have prepared for your servant Isaac. And by this, I will understand that you have shown mercy to my lord.”

¹⁵ But he had not yet completed these words within himself, when, behold, Rebekah went out, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder.

¹⁶ She was an exceedingly elegant girl, and a most beautiful virgin, and unknown by man. And she descended to the spring, and she filled her pitcher, and then was returning.

¹⁷ And the servant ran to meet her, and he said, “Provide me with a little water to drink from your pitcher.”

¹⁸ And she responded, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly brought down the pitcher on her arm, and she gave him a drink.

¹⁹ And after he drank, she added, “In fact, I will draw water for your camels also, until they all drink.”

²⁰ And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave it to all the camels.

²¹ But he was contemplating her silently, wanting to know whether the Lord had caused his journey to prosper or not

²² Then, after the camels drank, the man took out gold earrings, weighing two shekels, and the same number of bracelets, ten shekels in weight.

²³ And he said to her: “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, is there any place in your father’s house to lodge?”

²⁴ She responded, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, to whom she gave birth for Nahor.”

²⁵ And she continued, saying, “There is very much straw and hay with us, and a spacious place to stay.”

²⁶ The man bowed himself down, and he adored the Lord,

²⁷ saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my lord Abraham, who has not taken away his mercy and truth from my lord, and who has led me on a direct journey to the house of the brother of my lord.”

²⁸ And so the girl ran, and she reported all that she had heard in the house of her mother.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother, named Laban, who went out quickly to the man, where the spring was.

³⁰ And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister’s hands, and he had heard all the words being repeated, “This is what the man spoke to me,” he came to the man who stood by the camels and near the spring of water,

³¹ and he said to him: “Enter, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

³² And he brought him into his guest quarters. And he unharnessed the camels, and he distributed straw and hay, and water to wash his feet and that of the men who arrived with him.

³³ And bread was set out in his sight. But he said, “I will not eat, until I have spoken my words.” He answered him, “Speak.”

³⁴ Then he said: “I am the servant of Abraham.

³⁵ And the Lord has blessed my lord greatly, and he has become great. And he has given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, men servants and women servants, camels and donkeys.

³⁶ And Sarah, the wife of my lord, has given birth to a son for my lord in her old age, and he has given him all that he had.

³⁷ And my lord made me swear, saying: ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell.

³⁸ But you shall travel to my father’s house, and you shall take a wife of my own kindred for my son.’

³⁹ But truly, I answered my lord, ‘What if the woman is not willing to come with me?’

⁴⁰ ‘The Lord,’ he said, ‘in whose sight I walk, will send his Angel with you, and he will direct your way. And you shall take a wife for my son from my own kindred and from my father’s house.

⁴¹ But you will be innocent of my curse, if, when you will arrive at my close relatives, they will not grant this to you.’

⁴² And so, today I arrived at the well of water, and I said: ‘O Lord, the God of my lord Abraham, if you have directed my way, in which I now walk,

⁴³ behold, I stand next to the well of water, and the virgin, who will go forth to draw water, will hear from me, “Give me a little water to drink from your pitcher.”

⁴⁴ And she will say to me, “You drink, and I will also draw for your camels.” Let the same be the woman, whom the Lord has prepared for the son of my lord.’