23

And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. ²And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ³And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying, ⁴I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. ⁵And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, ⁶Hear us, my lord; thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. ⁷And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. ⁸And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place. ¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the children of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. ¹²And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. ¹³And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. ¹⁴And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, ¹⁵My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. ¹⁶And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

¹⁷So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure ¹⁸unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.

24 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and Yehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. ²And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: ³and I will make thee swear by Yehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: ⁴but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. ⁵And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? ⁶And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. ⁷Yehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spake unto me, and who sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence. ⁸And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. ⁹And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having all goodly things of his master’s in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. ¹¹And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. ¹²And he said, O Yehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water: ¹⁴and 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 drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. ¹⁵And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. ¹⁶And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher. ¹⁸And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. ¹⁹And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. ²⁰And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. ²¹And the man looked stedfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether Yehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. ²²And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, ²³and said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? ²⁴And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. ²⁵She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. ²⁶And the man bowed his head, and worshipped Yehovah. ²⁷And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth toward my master: as for me, Yehovah hath led me in the way to the house of my master’s brethren.

²⁸And the damsel ran, and told her mother’s house according to these words. ²⁹And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the fountain. ³⁰And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he was standing by the camels at the fountain. ³¹And he said, Come in, thou blessed of Yehovah; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. ³²And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him. ³³And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. ³⁴And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵And Yehovah hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses. ³⁶And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. ³⁷And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: ³⁸but thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son. ³⁹And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. ⁴⁰And he said unto me, Yehovah, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: ⁴¹then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give her not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath. ⁴²And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Yehovah, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: ⁴³behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass, that the maiden that cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher to drink; ⁴⁴and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom Yehovah hath appointed for my master’s son. ⁴⁵And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. ⁴⁶And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. ⁴⁷And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. ⁴⁸And I bowed my head, and worshipped Jehovah, and blessed Yehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. ⁴⁹And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from Yehovah: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. ⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as Yehovah hath spoken. ⁵²And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Yehovah. ⁵³And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. ⁵⁴And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. ⁵⁵And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. ⁵⁶And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. ⁵⁷And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. ⁵⁸And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. ⁵⁹And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them.

⁶¹And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. ⁶²And Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the land of the South. ⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel. ⁶⁵And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my master: and she took her veil, and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

25 And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. ²And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. ³And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. ⁶But unto the sons of the concubines, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. ⁷And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years. ⁸And Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; ¹⁰the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son: and Isaac dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi.

¹²Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: ¹³and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, ¹⁴and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: ¹⁶these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments; twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered unto his people. ¹⁸And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: he abode over against all his brethren.