Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 42
36
Genesis 24
PG 34
DIRECT
PG 34
SCENIC
24:1-27, 61-67
24:1-67
13
17
A WIFE FOR ISAAC
Sarah dies before her son Isaac finds a wife. Now Abraham wants Isaac to marry
a girl within his family clan, which disqualifies every woman in the region. So
he assigns his most trusted servant to travel five hundred miles—a two-week
journey—to find the perfect bride for Isaac.
Ephron was sitting there among the others,
and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite
elders of the town. 11 “No, my lord,” he said to
Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give you
the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my
people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.”
12
Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land, 13 and he replied to Ephron as
everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy
it from you. Let me pay the full price for the
field so I can bury my dead there.”
14
Ephron answered Abrah am, 15 “My
lord, please listen to me. The land is worth
400 pieces* of silver, but what is that between
friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
16
So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and
paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market
standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the
transaction.
17
So Abraham bought the plot of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre.
This included the field itself, the cave that was
in it, and all the surrounding trees. 18 It was
transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at
the city gate. 19 Then Abraham buried his wife,
Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Mach
pelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron). 20 So
the field and the cave were transferred from
the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent
burial place.
10
A WIFE FOR ISAAC
24
Abraham was now a very old man, and
the Lord had blessed him in every way.
2
One day Abraham said to his oldest servant,
the man in charge of his household, “Take an
oath by putting your hand under my thigh.
3
Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and
earth, that you will not allow my son to marry
one of these local Canaanite women. 4 Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and
find a wife there for my son I saac.”
5
The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find
a young woman who is willing to travel so far
from home? Should I then take Isaac there to
live among your relatives in the land you came
from?”
6
“No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful
never to take my son there. 7 For the Lord, the
God of heaven, who took me from my father’s
house and my native land, solemnly promised
to give this land to my descendants.* He will
send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to
it that you find a wife there for my son. 8 If she
is unwilling to come back with you, then you
are free from this oath of mine. But under no
circumstances are you to take my son there.”
9
So the servant took an oath by putting his
hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham.
He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.
10
Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels
with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim.
There he went to the town where Abraham’s
brother Nahor had settled. 11 He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It
was evening, and the women were coming out
to draw water.
12
“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,”
he prayed. “Please give me success today, and
show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.
13
See, I am standing here beside this spring, and
the young women of the town are coming out to
draw water. 14 This is my request. I will ask one
of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If
she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your
camels, too!’—let her be the one you have select23:15 Hebrew 400 shekels, about 10 pounds or 4.6 kilograms in
weight; also in 23:16. 24:7 Hebrew seed; also in 24:60.
