Through My Bible Yr 03 – March 14
Genesis 24:1-60
Genesis 24
A Wife for Isaac
1 Abraham was very old, well into old age. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2Ā Abraham said to his servant, the senior supervisor of his house, who was in charge of everything that he had, āPlease put your hand under my thigh. 3Ā You must swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 4Ā Instead, you shall go to my country and to my relatives and acquire a wife for my son Isaac.ā
5Ā The servant said to him, āWhat if the woman is not willing to follow me to this land? In that case, should I take your son back to the land that you came from?ā
6Ā Abraham said to him, āLet me make it very clear to you that you are not to take my son back there again. 7Ā The Lord, the God of heaven, took me away from my fatherās house and from the land of my birth. He spoke to me and swore to me, saying, āI will give this land to your descendants.ā [1] The Lord will send his angel ahead of you, so you shall find a wife for my son from there. 8Ā If the woman is not willing to follow you, you will be released from this oath. But under no circumstances shall you take my son back there.ā
9Ā The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. 10Ā The servant took ten of his masterās camels and set out. He took a variety of goods from his master with him. He set out and went to Mesopotamia [2] to the city of Nahor. 11Ā He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12Ā He said, āO Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13Ā Here I am, standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14Ā Let this be the test: The young lady to whom I say, āPlease let down your water jar, so that I may drink,ā will say, āDrink, and I will also give your camels a drink.ā She will be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This is how I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.ā
15Ā Before he had even finished speaking, out came Rebekah with her water jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abrahamās brother. 16Ā The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, who had never been intimate with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her water jar, and came up. 17Ā The servant ran to meet her and said, āPlease give me a drink, a little water from your water jar.ā
18Ā She said, āDrink, my lord.ā She quickly let down her water jar into her hands and gave him a drink. 19Ā When she was done giving him a drink, she said, āI will also draw water for your camels, until they have finished drinking.ā 20Ā She hurried and emptied her water jar into the trough, ran to the well again to draw more water, and drew water for all his camels.
21Ā The man remained silent and watched her carefully to find out whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. 22Ā Then, when the camels were finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring that weighed half a shekel and two gold bracelets that weighed ten shekels [3] for her wrists. 23Ā Then he asked, āWhose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room for us to stay in your fatherās house?ā
24Ā She said to him, āI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.ā 25Ā She also said to him, āWe have both straw and enough feed and enough room for you to spend the night.ā
26Ā The man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. 27Ā He said, āBlessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and faithfulness toward my master. Indeed, the Lord has guided me to the house of my masterās relatives.ā
28Ā The young lady ran and told her motherās household about these things. 29Ā Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out to the spring to meet the man. 30Ā When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sisterās wrists, and after he heard the words from Rebekah his sister, who said, āThis is what the man said to me,ā he went to find the man. And there he was, standing next to the camels by the spring. 31Ā Laban said, āCome with me, you who are blessed by the Lord. Why are you standing outside when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?ā
32Ā The man came to the house and unloaded the camels. Laban gave him straw and feed for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33Ā Food was set before him to eat, but he said, āI will not eat until I have delivered my message.ā
Laban said, āTell us.ā
34Ā He said, āI am Abrahamās servant. 35Ā The Lord has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. The Lord has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36Ā Sarah, my masterās wife, bore a son for my master when she was old. My master has given him everything that he owns. 37Ā My master made me take an oath. He said, āYou must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I am living. 38Ā Instead, you shall go to my fatherās house and to my relatives and acquire a wife for my son.ā 39Ā I asked my master, āWhat if the woman will not follow me?ā 40Ā He said to me, āThe Lord, in whose presence I walk, will send his angel with you and give your journey success, and you will acquire a wife for my son from my relatives and from my fatherās house. 41Ā But you will be released from my oath, if, when you have come to my relatives, they do not give her to youāthen you will be released from my oath.ā 42Ā Today I came to the spring and said, āO Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if you now will bless my journey with success, 43Ā (here I am, standing by this spring of water) let this be the test: If the virgin who comes out to draw water (the one to whom I say, āPlease give me a little water to drink from your water jarā) 44Ā tells me, āDrink, and I will also draw water for your camels,ā she will be the woman whom the Lord has chosen for my masterās son.ā 45Ā Before I had finished saying this to myself, out came Rebekah with her water jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, āPlease give me a drink.ā 46Ā She hurried and lowered her water jar from her shoulder and said, āDrink, and I will also give your camels a drink.ā So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink. 47Ā I asked her, āWhose daughter are you?ā She said, āThe daughter of Bethuel, Nahorās son, whom Milcah bore for him.ā I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48Ā I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to find the daughter of my masterās brother as a wife for his son. 49Ā Now if you will show mercy and faithfulness to my master here, tell me. If not, tell me, so that I may know whether to turn to the right or to the left.ā
50Ā Then Laban and Bethuel answered, āThis matter has been determined by the Lord. We cannot say anything to you either bad or good. 51Ā Look, Rebekah is right here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your masterās son, as the Lord has spoken.ā
52Ā So, when Abrahamās servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53Ā The servant brought out silver and gold jewelry and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and her mother. 54Ā He and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. They got up in the morning, and he said, āSend me on my way to my master.ā
55Ā Her brother and her mother said, āLet the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she can go.ā
56Ā He said to them, āDo not hold me back, since the Lord has granted my journey success. Send me on my way so that I can go to my master.ā
57Ā They said, āWe will call the young lady and ask her.ā 58Ā They called Rebekah and asked her, āDo you want to go with this man?ā
She said, āI do.ā
59Ā So they sent all of them on their wayātheir sister Rebekah with her nurse, Abrahamās servant, and his men. 60Ā They blessed Rebekah and said to her, āMay you, our sister, be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring take possession of the gates of those who hate them.ā
Footnotes
- Genesis 24:7 Or offspring
- Genesis 24:10 Also called Aram Naharaim, Aram of the Two Rivers. This area is in northern Syria, along the border with Turkey.
- Genesis 24:22 Ten shekels is about four ounces.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage VersionĀ®, EHVĀ®, Ā© 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.