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Now aAbraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had bblessed Abraham in every way.
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Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had acharge of all that he owned, "bPlease place your hand under my thigh,
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and I will make you swear by the Lord, athe God of heaven and the God of earth, that you bshall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of cthe Canaanites, among whom I live,
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but you will go to amy country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
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The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"
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Then Abraham said to him, "aBeware that you do not take my son back there!
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"aThe Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'bTo your descendants I will give this land,' He will send cHis angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.
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"But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will abe free from this my oath; bonly do not take my son back there."
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So the servant aplaced his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
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Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of agood things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to bthe city of Nahor.
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He made the camels kneel down outside the city by athe well of water at evening time, bthe time when women go out to draw water.
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He said, "aO Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please bgrant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.
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"Behold, aI am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;
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now may it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and who answers, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also'--may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master."
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aBefore he had finished speaking, behold, bRebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of cMilcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
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The girl was avery 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.
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Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "aPlease let me drink a little water from your jar."
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aShe said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.
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Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ashe said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."
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So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
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aMeanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.
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When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a agold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,
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and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?"
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She said to him, "aI am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."
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Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in."
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Then the man abowed low and worshiped the Lord.
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He said, "aBlessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken bHis lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, cthe Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."
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Then athe girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.
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Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was aLaban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.
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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.
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And he said, "aCome in, bblessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since cI have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"
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So the man entered the house. Then aLaban 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.
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But when food was set before him to eat, he said, "I will not eat until I have told my business." And he said, "Speak on."
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So he said, "I am aAbraham's servant.
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"The Lord has greatly ablessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him bflocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
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"Now aSarah my master's wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and bhe has given him all that he has.
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"aMy 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;
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but you shall go to my father's house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'
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"aI said to my master, 'Suppose the woman does not follow me.'
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"He said to me, 'aThe Lord, before whom I have bwalked, will send cHis 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;
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athen you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'
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"So aI 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 bsuccessful;
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behold, aI am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, "bPlease let me drink a little water from your jar";
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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.'
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"Before I had finished aspeaking in my heart, behold, bRebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and cI said to her, 'Please let me drink.'
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"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, 'aDrink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.
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"aThen 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 bring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.
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"And I abowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, bwho had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.
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"So now if you are going to adeal 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."
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Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "aThe matter comes from the Lord; bso we cannot speak to you bad or good.
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"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."
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When Abraham's servant heard their words, he abowed himself to the ground before the Lord.
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The servant brought out aarticles 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.
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Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, "aSend me away to my master."
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But her brother and her mother said, "aLet the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go."
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He said to them, "Do not delay me, since athe Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."
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And they said, "We will call the girl and consult her wishes."
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Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."
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Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and aher nurse with Abraham's servant and his men.
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They blessed Rebekah and said to her,