Now Abraham was very old, and the Lord had blessed him in all things. And when the time of his death drew near, Abraham said to the slave who had been longest in his service and who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh and swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son Isaac from the Canaanite women here, but that you will go to my native land and my kinsmen and bring back a wife for him.”
And the slave said, “What if the woman is not willing to come with me: should I take your son back to the land you came from?”
And Abraham said, “Don’t take my son there for any reason. The Lord, who called me from my fathers house and from the land where I was born and who promised me that he would give this land to my descendants — he will send his presence before you, and you will find a wife there for my son. And if the woman is not willing to come with you, then you are absolved from this oath. But you must never take my son back there.” And the slave put his handunder Abrahams thigh and swore that he would do as he had been commanded.
And he took ten camels from his master’s herds and set out, with all his master’s wealth at his disposal. And he traveled to Aram-naharayim, to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city toward evening, when the women come out to draw water. And he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, please send me good luck today and keep faith with my master. Here I am, standing by the spring as the young women come out to draw water. I am going to say to one of them, ‘Please pour me some water from your jar’; if she answers, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels, ‘ let her be the one you have appointed for Isaac. That is how I will know you have kept faith with my master.”
Before he had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder (she was the daughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother). And she was very beautiful, and of marriageable age, and had never slept with a man. And she went down to the spring and filled her jar. And as she came back, the slave ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
And she said, “Drink, sin,” and quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. And when he had had enough, she said, “I will draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough.” And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well and drew water for all his camels. And the man stood gazing at her, wondering whether the Lord had made his errand successful.
And when the camels had finished drinking, he took out a goldnose-ring weighing a quarter of an ounce and put it on her nose, and he put two bracelets weighing five ounces on her arms. And he said, “Tell me, please, whose daughter you are. And is there room for us in your father’s house?”
And she said, “I am the daughter of Nahor. And yes, we have plenty of straw and fodder, and room for you to spend the night.”
And the man bowed down to the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has never stopped dealing kindly with my master. For he has led me straight to the house of my master’s brother.”
And Rebecca ran to her mother’s house and told them what had happened.
And when Laban, her brother, saw the nose-ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and heard her tell what the man had said, he ran out to the spring. And he found the man standing there beside the camels, and he said, “Welcome, sir, and come in; why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and cleared a place for the camels?”
And he led the man to the house, and unloaded the camels, and gave them straw and fodder, and brought him and his men water to bathe their feet. But when food was set before him, the man said, “I will not eat until I have told my story.”
And Laban said, “Tell it.”
And he said, “I am Abraham’s slave. And the Lord has blessed my master and made him very rich, and has given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah, my master’s wife, bore my master a son in her old age, and he has assigned him everything he owns. And my master made meswear an oath, saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the Canaanite women here, but you must go to my father’s house and my family, and bring back a wife for him.’ And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman is not willing to come with me?’ And he said to me, ‘The Lord, in whose ways I have walked, will send his presence with you and will bring you success, and you will find a wife for my son among my family and my father’s house. Only if you come to my family and they refuse you, will you be absolved from this oath.’ And today I came to the well and prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please bring me success now. Here I am, standing by the spring, and I am going to say to one of the girls coming to draw water, “Please pour me some water from your jar”; if she answers, “Drink, and I will also draw water for your camels, “let that be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ And before I had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ And she quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. And I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Nahor.’ Then I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. And now tell me whether or not you intend to honor my master’s wish, so that I can know what to do next.”
Then Laban said, “This comes from the Lord; it is not for us to approve or disapprove. Here is Rebecca: take her and go; let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has decided.”
And when Abrahams slave heard this, he bowed to the ground in thanksgiving to the Lord. Then he took out silver and gold jewelry and bridal garments, and gave them to Rebecca, and he gave costly presents to her brother and her mother. And he and his men ate and drank, and they spent the night there.
And in the morning he said, “Please give me permission to go back to my master.”
And Rebeccas brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for another week or so; then she can leave.”
And he said, “Please don’t keep me here, now that the Lord has brought me success. Give me permission to leave and return to my master.”
And they said, “Let us call the girl and ask her.” And they called Rebecca and said, “Are you willing to go with this man?”
And she said, “Yes.”
So they sent Rebecca off, with her old nurse and Abraham’s slave and his men. And they blessed her, saying, Our sister, may you become multitudes, and may your descendants seize the gates of their enemies.”
And Rebecca and her maids mounted the camels. And the slave took the reins of Rebecca’s camel and left.
Now Isaac had moved on as far as Beer-lahai-ro’i and was living in the Negev. And one evening as he was out meditating in the fields, he looked up and saw the camels approaching.
And Rebecca looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she leaned down from her camel and asked the slave, “Who is that man walking toward us?”
And the slave said, “That is my master.” And she took her veil and covered herself.
And the slave told Isaac everything that had happened. And Isaac brought Rebecca into his tent and took her as his wife. And he loved her, and was comforted after the death of his father.