¹ And Abraham [is] old, he hath entered into days, and Jehovah hath blessed Abraham in all [things];

² and Abraham saith unto his servant, the eldest of his house, who is ruling over all that he hath, `Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,

³ and I cause thee to swear by Jehovah, God of the heavens, and God of the earth, that thou dost not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I am dwelling;

⁴ but unto my land and unto my kindred dost thou go, and hast taken a wife for my son, for Isaac.'

⁵ And the servant saith unto him, `It may be the woman is not willing to come after me unto this land; do I at all cause thy son to turn back unto the land from whence thou camest out?'

⁶ And Abraham saith unto him, `Take heed to thyself, lest thou cause my son to turn back thither;

⁷ Jehovah, God of the heavens, who hath taken me from the house of my father, and from the land of my birth, and who hath spoken to me, and who hath sworn to me, saying, To thy seed I give this land, He doth send His messenger before thee, and thou hast taken a wife for my son from thence;

⁸ and if the woman be not willing to come after thee, then thou hast been acquitted from this mine oath: only my son thou dost not cause to turn back thither.'

⁹ And the servant putteth his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and sweareth to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant taketh ten camels of the camels of his lord and goeth, also of all the goods of his lord in his hand, and he riseth, and goeth unto Aram-Naharaim, unto the city of Nahor;

¹¹ and he causeth the camels to kneel at the outside of the city, at the well of water, at even-time, at the time of the coming out of the women who draw water.

¹² And he saith, `Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, cause to meet, I pray Thee, before me this day -- (and do kindness with my lord Abraham;

¹³ lo, I am standing by the fountain of water, and daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

¹⁴ and it hath been, the young person unto whom I say, Incline, I pray thee, thy pitcher, and I drink, and she hath said, drink, and I water also thy camels) -- her Thou hast decided for Thy servant, for Isaac; and by it I know that Thou hast done kindness with my lord.'

¹⁵ And it cometh to pass, before he hath finished speaking, that lo, Rebekah (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham) is coming out, and her pitcher on her shoulder,

¹⁶ and the young person [is] of very good appearance, a virgin, and a man hath not known her; and she goeth down to the fountain, and filleth her pitcher, and cometh up.

¹⁷ And the servant runneth to meet her, and saith, `Let me swallow, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher;'

¹⁸ and she saith, `Drink, my lord;' and she hasteth, and letteth down her pitcher upon her hand, and giveth him Drink.

¹⁹ And she finisheth giving him drink, and saith, `Also for thy camels I draw till they have finished drinking;'

²⁰ and she hasteth, and emptieth her pitcher into the drinking-trough, and runneth again unto the well to draw, and draweth for all his camels.

²¹ And the man, wondering at her, remaineth silent, to know whether Jehovah hath made his way prosperous or not.

²² And it cometh to pass when the camels have finished drinking, that the man taketh a golden ring (whose weight [is] a bekah), and two bracelets for her hands (whose weight [is] ten [bekahs] of gold),

²³ and saith, `Whose daughter [art] thou? declare to me, I pray thee, is the house of thy father a place for us to lodge in?'

²⁴ And she saith unto him, `I [am] daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she hath borne to Nahor.'

²⁵ She saith also unto him, `Both straw and provender [are] abundant with us, also a place to lodge in.'

²⁶ And the man boweth, and doth obeisance to Jehovah,

²⁷ and saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, who hath not left off His kindness and His truth with my lord; -- I [being] in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren.'

²⁸ And the young person runneth, and declareth to the house of her mother according to these words.

²⁹ And Rebekah hath a brother, and his name [is] Laban, and Laban runneth unto the man who [is] without, unto the fountain;

³⁰ yea, it cometh to pass, when he seeth the ring, and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and when he heareth the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, `Thus hath the man spoken unto me,' that he cometh in unto the man, and lo, he is standing by the camels by the fountain.

³¹ And he saith, `Come in, O blessed one of Jehovah, why standest thou without, and I -- I have prepared the house and place for the camels!'

³² And he bringeth in the man into the house, and looseth the camels, and giveth straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who [are] with him:

³³ and setteth before him to eat; but he saith, `I do not eat till I have spoken my word;' and he saith, `Speak.'

³⁴ And he saith, `I [am] Abraham's servant;

³⁵ and Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and he is great; and He giveth to him flock, and herd, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses;

³⁶ and Sarah, my lord's wife, beareth a son to my lord, after she hath been aged, and he giveth to him all that he hath.

³⁷ `And my lord causeth me to swear, saying, Thou dost not take a wife to my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I am dwelling.

³⁸ If not -- unto the house of my father thou dost go, and unto my family, and thou hast taken a wife for my son.

³⁹ `And I say unto my lord, It may be the woman doth not come after me;

⁴⁰ and he saith unto me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked habitually, doth send His messenger with thee, and hath prospered thy way, and thou hast taken a wife for my son from my family, and from the house of my father;

⁴¹ then art thou acquitted from my oath, when thou comest unto my family, and if they give not [one] to thee; then thou hast been acquitted from my oath.

⁴² `And I come to-day unto the fountain, and I say, Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, if Thou art, I pray Thee, making prosperous my way in which I am going --

⁴³ (lo, I am standing by the fountain of water), then the virgin who is coming out to draw, and I have said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher,

⁴⁴ and she hath said unto me, Both drink thou, and also for thy camels I draw -- she is the woman whom Jehovah hath decided for my lord's son.

⁴⁵ `Before I finish speaking unto my heart, then lo, Rebekah is coming out, and her pitcher on her shoulder, and she goeth down to the fountain, and draweth; and I say unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee,

⁴⁶ and she hasteth and letteth down her pitcher from off her and saith, Drink, and thy camels also I water; and I Drink, and the camels also she hath watered.

⁴⁷ `And I ask her, and say, Whose daughter [art] thou? and she saith, Daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah hath borne to him, and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands,

⁴⁸ and I bow, and do obeisance before Jehovah, and I bless Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, who hath led me in the true way to receive the daughter of my lord's brother for his son.

⁴⁹ `And now, if ye are dealing kindly and truly with my lord, declare to me; and if not, declare to me; and I turn unto the right or unto the left.'

⁵⁰ And Laban answereth -- Bethuel also -- and they say, `The thing hath gone out from Jehovah; we are not able to speak unto thee bad or good;

⁵¹ lo, Rebekah [is] before thee, take and go, and she is a wife to thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken.'

⁵² And it cometh to pass, when the servant of Abraham hath heard their words, that he boweth himself towards the earth before Jehovah;

⁵³ and the servant taketh out vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and giveth to Rebekah; precious things also he hath given to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ And they eat and drink, he and the men who [are] with him, and lodge all night; and they rise in the morning, and he saith, `Send me to my lord;'

⁵⁵ and her brother saith -- her mother also -- `Let the young person abide with us a week or ten days, afterwards doth she go.'

⁵⁶ And he saith unto them, `Do not delay me, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away, and I go to my lord;'

⁵⁷ and they say, `Let us call for the young person, and ask at her mouth;'

⁵⁸ and they call for Rebekah, and say unto her, `Dost thou go with this man?' and she saith, `I go.'

⁵⁹ And they send away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men;

⁶⁰ and they bless Rebekah, and say to her, `Thou [art] our sister; become thou thousands of myriads, and thy seed doth possess the gate of those hating it.'

⁶¹ And Rebekah and her young women arise, and ride on the camels, and go after the man; and the servant taketh Rebekah and goeth.

⁶² And Isaac hath come in from the entrance of the Well of the Living One, my Beholder; and he is dwelling in the land of the south,

⁶³ and Isaac goeth out to meditate in the field, at the turning of the evening, and he lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, camels are coming.

⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifteth up her eyes, and seeth Isaac, and alighteth from off the camel;

⁶⁵ and she saith unto the servant, `Who [is] this man who is walking in the field to meet us?' and the servant saith, `It [is] my lord;' and she taketh the veil, and covereth herself.

⁶⁶ And the servant recounteth to Isaac all the things that he hath done,

⁶⁷ and Isaac bringeth her in unto the tent of Sarah his mother, and he taketh Rebekah, and she becometh his wife, and he loveth her, and Isaac is comforted after [the death of] his mother.

¹ Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her.

² [It was told] the Gazites, saying, "Samson is here!" They surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, [Let be] until morning light, then we will kill him.

³ Samson lay until midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

⁴ It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

⁵ The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, "Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred [pieces] of silver."

⁶ Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you."

⁷ Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹ Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound."

¹¹ He said to her, "If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

¹² So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread.

¹³ Delilah said to Samson, "Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound." He said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web."

¹⁴ She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

¹⁵ She said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies."

¹⁶ It happened, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was troubled to death.

¹⁷ He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man."

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand.

¹⁹ She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

²⁰ She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" He awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free." But he didn't know that Yahweh had departed from him.

²¹ The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison.

²² However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.

²³ The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand."

²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand."

²⁵ It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may entertain us." They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;

²⁶ and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, "Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them."

²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed.

²⁸ Samson called to Yahweh, and said, "Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

²⁹ Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.

³⁰ Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.

³¹ Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.