Bible in Basic English
And the servant put his hand under Abraham's leg, and gave him his oath about this thing.
And the servant took ten of his master's camels, and all sorts of good things of his master's, and went to Mesopotamia, to the town of Nahor.
And he made the camels take their rest outside the town by the water-spring in the evening, at the time when the women came to get water.
And he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, let me do well in what I have undertaken this day, and give your mercy to my master Abraham.
See, I am waiting here by the water-spring; and the daughters of the town are coming out to get water:
Now, may the girl to whom I say, Let down your vessel and give me a drink, and who says in answer, Here is a drink for you and let me give water to your camels: may she be the one marked out by you for your servant Isaac: so may I be certain that you have been good to my master Abraham.
And even before his words were ended, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water-vessel on her arm.
She was a very beautiful girl, a virgin, who had never been touched by a man: and she went down to the spring to get water in her vessel.
And the servant came running to her and said, Give me a little water from your vessel.
And she said, Take a drink, my lord: and quickly letting down her vessel onto her hand, she gave him a drink.
And having done so, she said, I will get water for your camels till they have had enough.
And after putting the water from her vessel into the animals' drinking-place, she went quickly back to the spring and got water for all the camels.
And the man, looking at her, said nothing, waiting to see if the Lord had given his journey a good outcome.
And when the camels had had enough, the man took a gold nose-ring, half a shekel in weight, and two ornaments for her arms of ten shekels weight of gold;
And said to her, Whose daughter are you? is there room in your father's house for us?
And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, Nahor's wife.
And she said, We have a great store of dry grass and cattle-food, and there is room for you.
And with bent head the man gave worship to the Lord;
And said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has given a sign that he is good and true to my master, by guiding me straight to the house of my master's family.
So the girl went running and took the news of these things to her mother's house
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he came out quickly to the man at the water-spring.
And when he saw the nose-ring and the ornaments on his sister's hands, and when she gave him word of what the man had said to her, then he went out to the man who was waiting with the camels by the water-spring.
And he said to him, Come in, you on whom is the blessing of the Lord; why are you waiting outside? for I have made the house ready for you, and a place for the camels.
Then the man came into the house, and Laban took their cords off the camels and gave them dry grass and food, and he gave to him and the men who were with him water for washing their feet.
And meat was put before him, but he said, I will not take food till I have made my business clear to you. And they said, Do so.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
The Lord has given my master every blessing, and he has become great: he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold, and men-servants and women-servants and camels and asses.
And when Sarah, my master's wife, was old, she gave birth to a son, to whom he has given all he has.
And my master made me take an oath, saying, Do not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am living;
But go to my father's house and to my relations for a wife for my son.
And I said to my master, What if the woman will not come with me?
And he said, The Lord, whom I have ever kept before me, will send his angel with you, who will make it possible for you to get a wife for my son from my relations and my father's house;
And you will be free from your oath to me when you come to my people; and if they will not give her to you, you will be free from your oath.
And I came today to the water-spring, and I said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if it is your purpose to give a good outcome to my journey,
Let it come about that, while I am waiting here by the water-spring, if a girl comes to get water and I say to her, Give me a little water from your vessel, and she says,
Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels; let her be the woman marked out by the Lord for my master's son.
And even while I was saying this to myself, Rebekah came out with her vessel on her arm; and she went down to the spring to get water; and I said to her, Give me a drink.
And straight away she took down her vessel from her arm, and said, Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels.
And questioning her, I said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, and Milcah his wife. Then I put the ring on her nose and the ornaments on her hands.
And with bent head I gave worship and praise to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, by whom I had been guided in the right way, to get the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
And now, say if you will do what is good and right for my master or not, in order that it may be clear to me what I have to do.
Then Laban and Bethuel said in answer, This is the Lord's doing: it is not for us to say Yes or No to you.
See, here is Rebekah: take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the Lord has said.
And at these words, Abraham's servant went down on his face and gave praise to the Lord.
Then he took jewels of silver and jewels of gold and fair robes and gave them to Rebekah: and he gave things of value to her mother and her brother.
Then he and the men who were with him had food and drink, and took their rest there that night; and in the morning he got up, and said, Let me now go back to my master.
But her brother and her mother said, Let the girl be with us a week or ten days, and then she may go.
And he said, Do not keep me; the Lord has given a good outcome to my journey; let me now go back to my master.
And they said, We will send for the girl, and let her make the decision.
And they sent for Rebekah and said to her, Are you ready to go with this man? And she said, I am ready.
So they sent their sister Rebekah and her servant with Abraham's servant and his men.
And they gave Rebekah their blessing, saying, O sister, may you be the mother of thousands and ten thousands; and may your seed overcome all those who make war against them.
So Rebekah and her servant-women went with the man, seated on the camels; and so the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.
Now Isaac had come through the waste land to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the South.
And when the evening was near, he went wandering out into the fields, and lifting up his eyes he saw camels coming.
And when Rebekah, looking up, saw Isaac, she got down from her camel,
And said to the servant, Who is that man coming to us through the field? And the servant said, It is my master: then she took her veil, covering her face with it.
Then the servant gave Isaac the story of all he had done.
And Isaac took Rebekah into his tent and she became his wife; and in his love for her, Isaac was comforted after his father's death.
— Genesis 24:9-1964, Bible in Basic English
“So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when the women would go out to draw water. He prayed,“O LORD, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. Be faithful to my master Abraham. Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water. I will say to a young woman,‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply,‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah(Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever been physically intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and said,“Please give me a sip of water from your jug.” “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink. When she had done so, she said,“I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.” She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the LORD had made his journey successful or not. After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold wrist bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her. “Whose daughter are you?” he asked.“Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She said to him,“I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added,“and room for you to spend the night.” The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD, saying“Praised be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The LORD has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!” The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about these things. (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say,“This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring. Laban said to him,“Come, you who are blessed by the LORD! Why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?” So Abraham’s servant went to the house and unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. When food was served, he said,“I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.”“Tell us,” Laban said. “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. “The LORD has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns. My master made me swear an oath. He said,‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find a wife for my son.’ But I said to my master,‘What if the woman does not want to go with me?’ He answered,‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ When I came to the spring today, I prayed,‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, may events unfold as follows: Here I am, standing by the spring. When the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say,“Please give me a little water to drink from your jug.” Then she will reply to me,“Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’ “Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her,‘Please give me a drink.’ She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said,‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. Then I asked her,‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied,‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. Then I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” Then Laban and Bethuel replied,“This is the LORD’s doing. Our wishes are of no concern. Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decided.” When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. Then he brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. When they got up in the morning, he said,“Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” But Rebekah’s brother and her mother replied,“Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” But he said to them,“Don’t detain me– the LORD has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master.” Then they said,“We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.” So they called Rebekah and asked her,“Do you want to go with this man?” She replied,“I want to go.” So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah with these words:“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.” Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with the man. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah and left. Now Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to relax in the field in the early evening. Then he looked up and saw that there were camels approaching. Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked Abraham’s servant,“Who is that man walking in the field toward us?”“That is my master,” the servant replied. So she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her as his wife and loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
And Abraham said, Take care that you do not let my son go back to that land.
The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and made an oath to me, saying, To your seed I will give this land: he will send his angel before you and give you a wife for my son in that land.
And if the woman will not come with you, then you are free from this oath; only do not take my son back there.
And the servant put his hand under Abraham's leg, and gave him his oath about this thing.
And the servant took ten of his master's camels, and all sorts of good things of his master's, and went to Mesopotamia, to the town of Nahor.
And he made the camels take their rest outside the town by the water-spring in the evening, at the time when the women came to get water.
And he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, let me do well in what I have undertaken this day, and give your mercy to my master Abraham.
See, I am waiting here by the water-spring; and the daughters of the town are coming out to get water:
Now, may the girl to whom I say, Let down your vessel and give me a drink, and who says in answer, Here is a drink for you and let me give water to your camels: may she be the one marked out by you for your servant Isaac: so may I be certain that you have been good to my master Abraham.
And even before his words were ended, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water-vessel on her arm.
She was a very beautiful girl, a virgin, who had never been touched by a man: and she went down to the spring to get water in her vessel.
And the servant came running to her and said, Give me a little water from your vessel.
And she said, Take a drink, my lord: and quickly letting down her vessel onto her hand, she gave him a drink.
And having done so, she said, I will get water for your camels till they have had enough.
And after putting the water from her vessel into the animals' drinking-place, she went quickly back to the spring and got water for all the camels.
And the man, looking at her, said nothing, waiting to see if the Lord had given his journey a good outcome.
And when the camels had had enough, the man took a gold nose-ring, half a shekel in weight, and two ornaments for her arms of ten shekels weight of gold;
And said to her, Whose daughter are you? is there room in your father's house for us?
And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, Nahor's wife.
And she said, We have a great store of dry grass and cattle-food, and there is room for you.
And with bent head the man gave worship to the Lord;
And said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has given a sign that he is good and true to my master, by guiding me straight to the house of my master's family.
So the girl went running and took the news of these things to her mother's house
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he came out quickly to the man at the water-spring.
And when he saw the nose-ring and the ornaments on his sister's hands, and when she gave him word of what the man had said to her, then he went out to the man who was waiting with the camels by the water-spring.
And he said to him, Come in, you on whom is the blessing of the Lord; why are you waiting outside? for I have made the house ready for you, and a place for the camels.
Then the man came into the house, and Laban took their cords off the camels and gave them dry grass and food, and he gave to him and the men who were with him water for washing their feet.
And meat was put before him, but he said, I will not take food till I have made my business clear to you. And they said, Do so.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
The Lord has given my master every blessing, and he has become great: he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold, and men-servants and women-servants and camels and asses.
And when Sarah, my master's wife, was old, she gave birth to a son, to whom he has given all he has.
And my master made me take an oath, saying, Do not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am living;
But go to my father's house and to my relations for a wife for my son.
And I said to my master, What if the woman will not come with me?
And he said, The Lord, whom I have ever kept before me, will send his angel with you, who will make it possible for you to get a wife for my son from my relations and my father's house;
And you will be free from your oath to me when you come to my people; and if they will not give her to you, you will be free from your oath.
And I came today to the water-spring, and I said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if it is your purpose to give a good outcome to my journey,
Let it come about that, while I am waiting here by the water-spring, if a girl comes to get water and I say to her, Give me a little water from your vessel, and she says,
Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels; let her be the woman marked out by the Lord for my master's son.
And even while I was saying this to myself, Rebekah came out with her vessel on her arm; and she went down to the spring to get water; and I said to her, Give me a drink.
And straight away she took down her vessel from her arm, and said, Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels.
And questioning her, I said, Whose daughter are you? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, and Milcah his wife. Then I put the ring on her nose and the ornaments on her hands.
And with bent head I gave worship and praise to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, by whom I had been guided in the right way, to get the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
And now, say if you will do what is good and right for my master or not, in order that it may be clear to me what I have to do.
Then Laban and Bethuel said in answer, This is the Lord's doing: it is not for us to say Yes or No to you.
See, here is Rebekah: take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the Lord has said.
And at these words, Abraham's servant went down on his face and gave praise to the Lord.
Then he took jewels of silver and jewels of gold and fair robes and gave them to Rebekah: and he gave things of value to her mother and her brother.
Then he and the men who were with him had food and drink, and took their rest there that night; and in the morning he got up, and said, Let me now go back to my master.
But her brother and her mother said, Let the girl be with us a week or ten days, and then she may go.
And he said, Do not keep me; the Lord has given a good outcome to my journey; let me now go back to my master.
And they said, We will send for the girl, and let her make the decision.
And they sent for Rebekah and said to her, Are you ready to go with this man? And she said, I am ready.
So they sent their sister Rebekah and her servant with Abraham's servant and his men.
And they gave Rebekah their blessing, saying, O sister, may you be the mother of thousands and ten thousands; and may your seed overcome all those who make war against them.
So Rebekah and her servant-women went with the man, seated on the camels; and so the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.
Now Isaac had come through the waste land to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the South.
And when the evening was near, he went wandering out into the fields, and lifting up his eyes he saw camels coming.
And when Rebekah, looking up, saw Isaac, she got down from her camel,
And said to the servant, Who is that man coming to us through the field? And the servant said, It is my master: then she took her veil, covering her face with it.
Then the servant gave Isaac the story of all he had done.
And Isaac took Rebekah into his tent and she became his wife; and in his love for her, Isaac was comforted after his father's death.