1. And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
2. And Abraham said unto his eldest slave of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,
3. and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;
4. but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
5. And the slave said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land, must I therefore bring thy son again unto the land from which thou didst come?
6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou not bring my son there again.
7. The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke unto me and swore unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there.
8. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be free from this my oath; only do not bring my son there again.
9. Then the slave put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning that matter.
10. And the slave took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed with the best of what his master had in his hand; and he arose and went to Ara-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.
11. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
12. And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, to have a good encounter this day and show mercy unto my master Abraham.
13. Behold, I stand here by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out for water:
14. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels to drink also; let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy slave Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown mercy unto my master.
15. And it came to pass before he had done speaking that, behold, Rebekah came out (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother) with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known; and she went down to the fountain and filled her pitcher and was coming back up.
17. Then the slave ran to meet her and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
18. And she said, Drink, my lord, and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink.
19. And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they have finished drinking.
20. And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water and drew for all his camels.