11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I to thee, and the cave that is in it I give it to thee; in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to thee: bury thy dead.
12 And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land.
13 And he spoke to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 My lord, hearken to me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16 And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
17 And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the surrounding borders, were made sure
18 To Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that entered the gate of his city.
19 And 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.
20 And the field, and the cave that is in it, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
CHAP. 24.
1 And Abraham was old, and well advanced in years: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. [1]
2 And Abraham said to his eldest servant of his house, that 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 heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
4 But thou shalt go to my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.
5 And the servant said to him, It may be the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land: must I needs bring thy son again to the land from which you came?
6 And Abraham said to him, Beware that thou bring not 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 to me, and who swore to me, saying, To thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from there.
8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son there again.
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.
10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hands: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. [2]
11 And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, the time when women go out to draw water . [3]
12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, prosper me this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw 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 water thy camels also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and by that shall I know that thou hast shown kindness to my master.
15 And it came to pass, before he had finished 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, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. [4]
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water from thy pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him a drink.
19 And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, till they have finished drinking.
20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And it came to pass, as the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her wrists of ten shekels weight of gold; [5]
