Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.”
So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,
She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD.
He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”
Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.
When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
And he said, “Come in, blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?”
So the man entered the house. Then Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
The LORD has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;
I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’
He said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;
“So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful;
behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”;
and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’
“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’
She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.
Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.
And I bowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.
So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”
Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the LORD; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.
Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.”
When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the LORD.
The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”
But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.”
He said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”
And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.”
They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.”
Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev.
Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.
She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself.
The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.
The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.
but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.
These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years.
Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,
the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.
It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;
and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit http://www.lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.