Holman Christian Standard Bible (9 page)

18
 She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink.
19
 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I'll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.” 
20
 She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels
21
 while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the
Lord
had made his journey a success.

22
 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a
•shekel
, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold.
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 answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
25
 She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.”

26
 Then the man bowed down, worshiped the
Lord
, 
27
 and said, “Praise 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.”

28
 The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.
29
 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.
30
 As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he had heard his sister Rebekah's words — “The man said this to me! ” — he went to the man. He was standing there by the camels at the spring.

31
 Laban said, “Come, you who are blessed by the
Lord
. Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32
 So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was brought to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him.

33
 A meal was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”

So Laban said, “Please speak.”

34
 “I am Abraham's servant,” he said.
35
 “The
Lord
has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.
36
 Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 
37
 My master put me under this oath: ‘You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live
38
 but will go to my father's household and to my family to take a wife for my son.'
39
 But I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman will not come back with me? '
40
 He said to me, ‘The
Lord
before whom I have walked will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's household.
41
 Then you will be free from my oath if you go to my family and they do not give her to you — you will be free from my oath.'

42
 “Today when I came to the spring, I prayed:
Lord
, God of my master Abraham, if only You will make my journey successful!
43
 I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug,
44
 and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels also' — let her be the woman the
Lord
has appointed for my master's son.

45
 “Before I had finished praying silently, there was Rebekah coming with her jug on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her: Please let me have a drink.
46
 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I'll water your camels also.' So I drank, and she also watered the camels.
47
 Then I asked her: Whose daughter are you? She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
48
 Then I bowed down, worshiped the
Lord
, and praised the
Lord
, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.
49
 Now, if you are going to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; if not, tell me, and I will go elsewhere.” 

50
 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the
Lord
; we have no choice in the matter.
51
 Rebekah is here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her be a wife for your master's son, just as the
Lord
has spoken.”

52
 When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the
Lord
.
53
 Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
54
 Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night.

When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.”

55
 But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about 10 days. Then she can go.”

56
 But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the
Lord
has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.”

57
 So they said, “Let's call the girl and ask her opinion.” 

58
 They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man? ”

She replied, “I will go.”
59
 So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her, and Abraham's servant and his men.

60
 They blessed Rebekah, saying to her:

61
 Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

62
 Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the
•Negev
region.
63
 In the early evening Isaac went out to walk in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming.
64
 Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel
65
 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us? ”

The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.
66
 Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

67
 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother's death. 

Genesis

Abraham's Other Wife and Sons

25
Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah, 
2
 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3
 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
4
 And Midian's sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.
5
 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 
6
 And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East. 

Abraham's Death

7
 This is the length of Abraham's life: 175 years.
8
 He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people. 
9
 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
10
 This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
11
 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi. 

Ishmael's Family Records

12
 These are the family records of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave, bore to Abraham.
13
 These are the names of Ishmael's sons; their names according to the family records are: Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
14
 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15
 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
16
 These are Ishmael's sons, and these are their names by their villages and encampments: 12 leaders of their clans. 
17
 This is the length of Ishmael's life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people.
18
 And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He lived in opposition to all his brothers. 

The Birth of Jacob and Esau

19
 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. 
20
 Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 
21
 Isaac prayed to the
Lord
on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The
Lord
heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 
22
 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me? ” So she went to inquire of the
Lord
. 
23
 And the
Lord
said to her:

24
 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.
25
 The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. 
26
 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau's heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Birthright

27
 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 
28
 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 

29
 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.
30
 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I'm exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom. 

31
 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32
 “Look,” said Esau, “I'm about to die, so what good is a birthright to me? ”

33
 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.
34
 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright. 

Genesis

The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac

26
There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham's time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 
2
 The
Lord
appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about;
3
 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your
•offspring
, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 
4
 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 
5
 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.” 
6
 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Isaac's Deception

7
 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.” 
8
 When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

9
 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister'? ”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

10
 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you've done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought
•guilt
on us.” 
11
 So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”

Conflicts over Wells

12
 Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The
Lord
blessed him, 
13
 and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy.
14
 He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.
15
 The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father's slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with dirt.
16
 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.”