Providence in Motion: Seeking a Bride for the Promised Son

¹ By now Abraham was old and well along in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

² So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,

³ and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

⁴ but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there.

⁷ The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

⁸ And if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”

⁹ So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim.

¹¹ As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.

¹² “O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³ Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴ Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

¹⁶ Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.

¹⁷ So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ After she had given him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have had enough to drink.”

²⁰ And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.

²¹ Meanwhile, the man watched her silently to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.

²² And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.

²³ “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”

²⁵ Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD,

²⁷ saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”