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Genesis 24
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Chapter 24
The marriage of Isaac
1
By now Abraham was an old man well on in years, and Yahweh had blessed him in every way.
2
Abraham said to the eldest servant of his houses house-hold, the steward of all his property, ‘Place your hand under my thigh,
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I would have you swear by Yahweh, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live.
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Instead, go to my own land and my own kinsfolk to choose a wife for my son Isaac
5
The servant asked him, ‘What if the woman does not want to come with me to this country? Must I take your son back to the country from which you came?’
6
Abraham answered, ‘On no account take my son back there.
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Yahweh, God of heaven and God of earth, took me from my father’s home and from the land of my kinsfolk, and he swore to me that he would give this country to my descendants. He will now send his angel ahead of you, so that you may choose a wife for my son there
8
And if the woman does not want to come with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.’
9
And the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham, and swore to him that he would do it.
10
The servant took ten of his master’s camels and something of the best of all his master owned, and set out for Aram Naharaiim[*a] and Nahor’s town.
11
In the evening, at the time when women go down to draw water he made the camels kneel outside the town near the well.
12
And he said, ‘Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, be with me today, and show your kindness to my master Abraham.
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Here I stand by the spring as the young women from the town come out to draw water.
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To one of the girls I will say: Please tilt your pitcher and let me drink. If she answers, “Drink, and I will water your camels too”, may she be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac; by this I shall know you have shown your kindness to my master.’
15
He had not finished speaking when Rebekah came out. She was the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. She had a pitcher on her shoulder.
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The girl was very beautiful, and a virgin; no man had touched her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher and came up again.
17
Running to meet her, the servant said, ‘Please give me a little water to drink from your pitcher’.
18
She replied, ‘Drink, my lord’, and she quickly lowered her pitcher on her arm and gave him a drink.
19
When she had finished letting him drink, she said, ‘I will draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough’.
20
She quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran to the well again to draw water, and drew water for all the camels
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while the man watched in silence, wondering whether Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.
22
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and put it through her nostrils, and put on her arms two bracelets weighing ten gold shekels,
23
and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room at your father’s house for us to spend the night?’
24
She answered, ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son whom Milcah bore to Nahor’.
25
And she went on, ‘We have plenty of straw and fodder, and room to lodge’.
26
Then the man bowed down and worshipped Yahweh
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saying, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, for he has not stopped showing kindness and goodness to my master. Yahweh has guided my steps to the house of my master’s brother.’
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The girl ran to her mother’s house to tell what had happened.
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Now Rebekah had a brother called Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.
30
As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets his sister was wearing, and had heard his sister Rebekah saying, ‘This is what the man said to me’, he went to the man and found him still standing by his camels at the spring.
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He said to him, Come in, blessed of Yahweh, why stay out here when I have cleared the house and made room for the camels?’
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The man went to the house, and Laban unloaded the camels. He provided straw and fodder for the camels and water for him and his companions to wash their feet.
33
They offered him food, but he said, ‘I will eat nothing before I have said what I have to say’. Laban said, ‘Speak’.
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He said, ‘I am the servant of Abraham.
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Yahweh has overwhelmed my master with blessings, and Abraham is now very rich. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, men slaves and women slaves, camels and donkeys.
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Sarah, my master’s wife, bore him a son in his old age, and he has made over all his property to him.
37
My master made me take this oath, “You are not to choose a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose country I live;
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Curse you if you do not go to my father’s home and to my kinsfolk to choose a wife for my son.”
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I said to my master: Suppose the woman will not agree to come with me?
40
and his reply was, “Yahweh, in whose presence I have walked, will send his angel to make your journey successful; you shall choose a wife for my son from my kinsfolk and from my father’s house.
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So doing, you will be free from my curse: you will have gone to my family, and if they refuse you, you will be free from my curse.”
42
Arriving today at the spring I said: Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, show me, I pray, if you intend to make my journey successful.
43
Here I stand, by the spring: when a girl comes out to draw water and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher,
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and she replies, “Drink by all means, and I will draw water for your camels too”, may she be the wife Yahweh has chosen for my master’s son:
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I was still turning this over in my mind when Rebekah came out, her pitcher on her shoulder. She came down to the spring and drew water. I said to her: Please give me a drink.
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Quickly she lowered her pitcher saying, “Drink, and I will water your camels too”.
47
I asked her: Whose daughter are you? She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, whom Milcah bore to Nahor”. Then I put this ring through her nostrils and these bracelets on her arms.
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I bowed down and worshipped Yahweh, and I blessed Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, who had so graciously led me to choose the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.
49
Now tell me whether you are prepared to show kindness and goodness to my master; if not, say so, and I shall know what to do.’
50
Laban and Bethuel replied, ‘This is from Yahweh; it is not in our power to say yes or no to you.
51
Rebekah is there before you. Take her and go; and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as Yahweh has decreed.’
52
On hearing this Abraham’s servant prostrated himself on the ground before Yahweh.
53
He brought out silver and gold ornaments and clothes which he gave to Rebekah; he also gave rich presents to her brother and to her mother.
54
They ate and drank, he and his companions, and they spent the night there.
55
Next morning when they were up, he said, ‘Let me go back to my master’. Rebekah’s brother and mother replied, ‘Let the girl stay with us a few days, perhaps ten; after that she may go’.
56
But he replied, ‘Do not delay me; it is Yahweh who has made my journey successful; let me leave to go back to my master’.
57
They replied, ‘Let us call the girl and find out what she has to say’.
58
They called Rebekah and asked her, ‘Do you want to leave with this man?’ ‘I do’ she replied.
59
Accordingly they let their sister Rebekah go, with her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.
60
They blessed Rebekah in these words: ‘Sister of ours, increase to thousands and tens of thousands! May your descendants gain possession of the gates of their enemies!’
61
Rebekah and her servants stood up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah and departed.
62
Isaac, who lived in the Negeb, had meanwhile come into the wilderness of the well of Lahai Roi.
63
Now Isaac went walking in the fields as evening fell, and looking up saw camels approaching.
64
And Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She jumped down from her camel, and asked the servant,
65
‘Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?’ The servant replied, ‘That is my master’; then she took her veil and hid her face.
66
The servant told Isaac the whole story,
67
and Isaac led Rebekah into his tent and made her his wife; and he loved her. And so Isaac was consoled for the loss of his mother.
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