- And Abraam was old, advanced in days; and
the Lord blessed Abraam in all things.
- And Abraam said to his servant the elder
of his house, who had rule over all his
possessions, Put thy hand under my thigh,
- and I will adjure thee by the Lord the God of
heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou take
not a wife for my son Isaac from the
daughters of the Chananites, with whom I dwell,
in the midst of them.
- But thou shalt go
instead to my country where I was born,
and to my tribe, and thou shalt take from
thence a wife for my son Isaac.
- And the
servant said to him, Shall I carry back thy
son to the land whence thou camest forth,
[a] if haply the woman should not be willing
to return with me to this land?
- And
Abraam said to him, Take heed to thyself
that thou carry not my son back thither.
- The Lord the God of heaven, and the God
of the earth, who took me out of my father's
house, and out of the land whence I sprang,
who spoke to me, and who swore to me,
saying,I will give this land to thee and to thy
seed, he shall send his angel before thee, and
thou shalt take a wife to my son from thence.
- And if the woman should not be willing to
come with thee into this land, thou shalt be
clear from my oath, only carry not my son
thither again.
- And the servant put his
hand under the thigh of his master Abraam,
and swore to him concerning this matter.
- And the servant took ten camels of his
master's camels, and he took of all the goods
of his master with him, and he arose and
went into Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.
- And he [b] rested his camels without the
city by the well of water towards evening,
when damsels go forth to draw water.
- And he said, O Lord God of my master
Abraam, prosper my way before me to day,
and deal mercifully with my master Abraam.
- Lo! I stand by the well of water, and the
daughters of them that inhabit the city come
forth to draw water.
- And it shall be, the
virgin to whomsoever I shall say, Incline
thy water-pot, that I may drink, and she
shall say, Drink thou, and I will give thy
camels drink, until they shall have done
drinking -- even this one thou hast prepared
for thy servant Isaac, and hereby shall I
know that thou hast dealt mercifully with
my master Abraam.
- And it came to pass before he had done
speaking in his mind, that behold, Rebecca
the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha,
the wife of Nachor, and the same [c] the
brother of Abraam came forth, having a
water-pot on her shoulders.
- And the virgin was
very beautiful in appearance, she was a
virgin, a man had not known her; and she
went down to the well, and filled her
water-pot, and came up.
- And the servant ran
up to meet her, and said, Give me a little
water to drink out of thy pitcher;
- and
she said, Drink, Sir; and she hasted, and
let down the pitcher upon her arm, and
gave him to drink, till he ceased drinking.
- And she said, I will also draw water for
thy camels, till they shall all have drunk.
- And she hasted, and emptied the
water-pot into the trough, and ran to the well to
draw again, and drew water for all the
camels.
- And the man took great notice
of her, and remained silent to know
whether the Lord had made his way prosperous
or not.
- And it came to pass when all the
camels ceased drinking, that the man took
golden ear-rings, each of a drachm weight,
and he put two bracelets on her hands,
their weight was ten pieces of gold.
- And
he asked her, and said, Whose daughter art
thou? Tell me if there is room for us to
lodge with thy father.
- And she said to
him I am the daughter of Bathuel the son
of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
- And she said to him, We have both straw
and much provender, and a place for resting.
- And the man being well pleased,
worshipped the Lord,
- and said, Blessed be
the Lord the God of my master Abraam,
who has not suffered his righteousness to
fail, nor his truth from my master and the
Lord has brought me prosperous to the
house of the brother of my lord.
- And
the damsel ran and reported to the house
of her mother according to these words.
- And Rebecca had a brother whose name
was Laban; and Laban ran out to meet the
man, to the well.
- And it came to pass
when he saw the ear-rings and the bracelets
on the hands of his sister, and when he
heard the words of Rebecca his sister,
saying, Thus the man spoke to me, that he
went to the man, as he stood by the camels
at the well.
- And he said to him, Come
in hither, thou blessed of the Lord, why
standest thou without, whereas I have
prepared the house and a place for the camels?
- And the man entered into the house, and
unloaded the camels, and gave the camels
straw and provender, and water to wash his
feet, and the feet of the men that were with
him.
- And he set before them loaves to eat;
but be said, I will not eat, until I have
[d] told my errand. And he said, Speak on.
- And he said, I am a servant of Abraam;
- and the Lord has blessed my master
greatly, and he is exalted, and he has given
him sheep, and calves, and silver, and gold,
servants and servant-maids, camels, and
asses.
- And Sarrha my master's wife bore
one son to my master after he had grown
old; and be gave him whatever he had.
- And my master caused me to swear,
saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my
son of the daughters of the Chananites,
among whom I sojourn in their land.
- But
thou shalt go to the house of my father,
and to my tribe, and thou shalt take thence
a wife for my son.
- And I said to my
master, Haply the woman will not go with me.
- And he said to me, The Lord God to
whom I have been acceptable in his
presence, himself shall send out his angel with
thee, and shall prosper thy journey, and thou
shalt take a wife for my son of my tribe, and
of the house of my father.
- Then shalt
thou be clear from my curse, for
whensoever thou shalt have come to my tribe, and
they shall not give her to thee, then shalt
thou be clear from my oath.
- And having
come this day to the well, I said, Lord God
of my master Abraam, if thou prosperest
my journey on which I am now going,
- behold I stand by the well of water, and
the daughters of the men of the city come
forth to draw water, and it shall be that the
damsel to whom I shall say, Give me a
little water to drink out of thy pitcher,
- and she shall say to me, Both drink thou,
and I will draw water for thy camels, this
shall be the wife whom the Lord has
prepared for his own servant Isaac; and hereby
shall I know that thou hast wrought mercy
with my master Abraam.
- And it came to
pass before I had done speaking in my
mind, straightway Rebecca came forth
having her pitcher on her shoulders; and
she went down to the well, and drew water
and I said to her, Give me to drink.
- And
she hasted and let down her pitcher on her
arm [e] from her head, and said, Drink thou
and I will give thy camels drink; and I
drank, and she gave the camels drink.
- And
I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art
thou? tell me; and she said, I am daughter
of Bathuel the son of Nachor, whom
Melcha bore to him; and I put on her the
ear-rings, and the bracelets on her hands.
- And being well-pleased I worshipped the
Lord, and I blessed the Lord the God of
my master Abraam, who has prospered me
in a true way, so that I should take the
daughter of my master's brother for his son.
- If then ye will deal mercifully and justly
with my lord, tell me, and if not, tell me,
that I may turn to the right hand or to
the left.
- And Laban and Bathuel answered and
said, This matter has come forth from the
Lord, we shall not be able to answer thee
bad or good.
- Behold, Rebecca is before
thee, take her and [f] go away, and let her be
wife to the son of thy master, as the Lord
has said.
- And it came to pass when the
servant of Abraam heard these words, he
bowed himself to the Lord down to the
earth.
- And the servant having brought
forth jewels of silver and gold and raiment,
gave them to Rebecca, and gave gifts to her
brother, and to her mother.
- And both he
and the men with him ate and drank and
went to sleep. And he arose in the morning
and said, Send me away, that I may go to
my master.
- And her brethren and her
mother said, Let the virgin remain with us
about ten days, and after that she shall
depart.
- But he said to them, Hinder me
not, for the Lord has prospered my journey
for me; send me away, that I may depart
to my master.
- And they said, Let us call
the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
- And they called Rebecca, and said to her,
Wilt thou go with this man? and she said,
I will go.
- So they sent forth Rebecca
their sister, and her goods, and the servant
of Abraam and his attendants.
- And they
blessed Rebecca, and said to her, thou art
our sister; become thou thousands of
myriads, and let thy seed possess the cities of
their enemies.
- And Rebecca rose up and
her maidens, and they mounted the camels
and went with the man; and the servant
having taken up Rebecca, departed.
- And Isaac went through the wilderness
to the well of the vision, and he dwelt in
the land toward the south.
- And Isaac
went forth into the plain toward evening to
meditate and having lifted up his eyes he
saw camels coming.
- And Rebecca lifted
up her eyes, and saw Isaac; and she alighted
briskly from the camel,
- and said to the
servant, Who is that man that walks in the
plain to meet us? And the servant said,
This is my master; and she took her veil and
covered herself.
- And the servant told
Isaac all [g] that he had done.
- And Isaac
went into the house of his mother, and took
Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he
loved her; and Isaac was comforted for
Sarrha his mother.
[a] See the use of mh/ pote in a somewhat similar case, 2 Tim. 2. 25.
[b] Heb. caused to kneel down. Gr. caused to sleep.
[c] i.e. Nachor.
[d] Gr. spoken my words.
[e] Gr. from herself.
[f] Gr. run away.
[g] Lit. all the words which. Hebraism.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]