Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

and room to lodge in.' ²⁶And the man bowed his head, and prostrated himself before the Lord. ²⁷And he said: 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord 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 spoke the man unto me, 'that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain. ³¹And he said: 'Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have cleared the house, and made 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 the Lord 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 bore 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: The Lord, 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 Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now Thou do prosper my way which I go: ⁴³behold, I stand 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 the Lord hath appointed for my master's son. ⁴⁵And before I had done speaking to 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 bore unto him. And I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. ⁴⁸And I bowed my head, and prostrated myself before the Lord, and blessed the Lord, 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 the Lord; 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 the Lord hath spoken.' ⁵²And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto the Lord. 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: 'Delay me not, seeing the Lord 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 for his mother.

      25And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. ²And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. ³And Jokshan begot 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 expired, 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, bore 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 Kedem; 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 expired and died; and was gathered unto his people. ¹⁸And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Asshur: over against all his brethren he did settle.

      תולדות

      ¹⁹And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begot Isaac. ²⁰And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord let Himself be entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²And the children struggled together within her; and she said: 'If it be so, wherefore do I live?' And she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³And the Lord said unto her:

      Two nations are in thy womb,And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels;And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;And the elder shall serve the younger.

²⁴And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵And the first came forth ruddy, all over like a hairy mantle; and they called his name Esau. ²⁶And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called ²⁴Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them. ²⁷And the boys grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the