¹ And Abraham was old [and] well stricken in age, and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

² And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,

³ and I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;

⁴ but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

⁵ And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land, must I therefore bring thy son again unto the land from which thou didst come?

⁶ And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou not bring my son there again.

⁷ The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke unto me and swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there.

⁸ And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be free from this my oath; only do not bring my son there again.

⁹ Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning that matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed with the best of what his master had in his hand; and he arose and went to Ara-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.

¹¹ And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, [even] the time that women go out to draw [water].

¹² And he said, O LORD, God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, to have a good encounter this day and show mercy unto my master Abraham.

¹³ Behold, I stand [here] by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out for water:

¹⁴ And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels to drink also; [let the same be] she [that] thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown mercy unto my master.

¹⁵ And it came to pass before he had done speaking that, behold, Rebekah came out (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother) with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

¹⁶ And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known; and she went down to the fountain and filled her pitcher and and was coming [back] up.

¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

¹⁸ And she said, Drink, my lord, and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink.

¹⁹ And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw [water] for thy camels also until they have finished drinking.

²⁰ And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw [water] and drew for all his camels.

²¹ And the man marveled at her in silence, to see whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.

²² And it came to pass as the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden pendant of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her hands of ten [shekels] weight of gold

²³ and said, Whose daughter [art] thou? Tell me, I pray thee; is there room [in] thy father's house for us to lodge in?

²⁴ And she said unto him, I [am] the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she gave birth unto Nahor.

²⁵ She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and fodder enough and room to lodge in.

²⁶ Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the LORD.

²⁷ And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, God of my master Abraham, who has not lifted his mercy and his truth from my master, the LORD leading me in the way to the house of my master's brethren.

²⁸ And the damsel ran and told [those of] her mother's house these things.

²⁹ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name [was] Laban; and Laban ran out unto the man to the fountain.

³⁰ And it came to pass when he saw the pendant and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, she said, Thus spoke the man unto me; then he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain.

³¹ And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; why dost thou stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and the place for the camels.

³² Then the man came into the house, and [Laban] ungirded his camels and gave straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the men's feet that [were] with him.

³³ And they set [food] before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. And [he] said unto him, Speak on.

³⁴ And he said, I [am] Abraham's servant.

³⁵ And the LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold and menservants and maidservants and camels and asses.

³⁶ And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old, unto whom he has given all that he has.

³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;

³⁸ but thou shalt go unto my father's house and to my kindred and take from there a wife for my son.

³⁹ And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

⁴⁰ And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my lineage and of my father's house;

⁴¹ then shalt thou be free from [this] my oath, when thou hast come unto my lineage; and if they give [her] not [unto] thee, thou shalt be free from my oath.

⁴² And I came this day unto the fountain and said, O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if now thou dost prosper my way by which I go,

⁴³ behold, I stand by the fountain of water; let it come to pass, therefore, [that] the virgin who comes forth to draw [water] unto whom I say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

⁴⁴ and if she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, [let] the same [be] the woman whom the LORD has prepared for my master's son.