young women that came to draw water should be Isaac's wife. But how would the servant know? In this way. He was going to ask one of them to give him some water out of her pitcher. If she answered him kindly and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, then she was to be the one whom God had chosen for Isaac's wife. But if she answered unkindly, and would give him no water, she was not to be the one.

And

So while he was praying, a beautiful young woman, named Rebekah, came out of the city, carrying her pitcher upon her shoulder, and she went down to the well and filled it with water, and came up again. the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me drink a little water out of thy pitcher; she answered, Drink, and I will draw water for thy camels also. And she let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and gave the man drink; afterward she ran to the well and drew water for the camels, and they drank too.

Then the servant stood still, wondering whether she was the one whom God had chosen to be Isaac's wife, or not.

After the camels had done drinking, the man took an earring of gold and two bracelets of gold, and gave them to Rebekah. And he asked whose daughter she was, and whether there was room at her father's house for him and the men who were with him, to sleep there. Then Rebekah told him that she was the daughter of Bethuel; she said also, that they had room at their house, and food and straw for the camels. When the servant heard that she was Bethuel's daughter, he knew she was one of Abraham's relations, for Abraham was Bethuel's uncle. And he was glad, and bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord, and thanked Him for helping him to find his master's relations who lived so far away.

Then Rebekah left the servant and ran to her home, and told her mother about all these things. And she had a brother, whose name was Laban. When Laban heard what she said,

and saw the earring and the bracelets, he ran out of the city to the man, and found him standing by his camels at the well. And Laban asked him to come to their house, and said he had made it ready for him, and that there was room for the camels. And the man went with Laban, and Laban helped him to unload the camels, and gave him straw and food for them, and he gave the men water to wash their feet. Afterwards there was food set before Abraham's servant that he might eat. But he said he would not eat until he had told them what he came to their country for.

Then he said that he was Abraham's servant, and that the Lord had blessed Abraham and made him great. He had given him silver and gold, and flocks, and herds, and camels, and asses; and He had given him a son also. And all his riches, the servant said, Abraham had given to his son Isaac. And he told them that Abraham had sent him into their country to find a wife for Isaac. And he had come to the well that day, and prayed that God would make him know which was the young woman who should be Isaac's wife; he had prayed that she might answer him kindly when he should ask her for a little water to drink, and so he would know that she was the one. And while he was praying, he said, Rebekah came out, and when he asked her for drink, she answered him kindly, saying, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also.

Then the servant asked them whether they would let Rebekah go home with him to be Isaac's wife, or not. They answered that it was the Lord who had done all these things, Rebekah might go. When the servant heard this he was glad, and bowed himself down to the ground, and worshipped the Lord. Afterward he brought out more beautiful presents, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. And he gave her mother and her brother presents also. Then he did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and they stayed at Laban's house all night.

When they rose up in the morning, Abraham's servant wanted to take Rebekah, and go on his way back to the land of Canaan. But her mother and her brother did not wish to part with her

so soon; they said, Let her stay with us a few days, at least ten, after that she shall go. But the man begged them not to keep him, because, he said, the Lord had helped him to do what his master sent him for; therefore he wanted to make haste home to his master again. They said, We will call Rebekah, and ask her; and they called her and asked, Wilt thou go with this man? She answered, I will go. So they sent away Rebekah, and her nurse went with her, and they rode on the camels after Abraham's servant.

And they came into the land of Canaan. It was toward evening, about the time the sun goes down, when they came to the place where Isaac was. And Isaac had gone out into the field to walk there, and think by himself alone. Perhaps he

wondered whether the servant would soon be back, and whether the Lord had helped him to find the woman who should be his wife. And he looked up and saw the camels were coming. As they came nearer, Rebekah saw Isaac, and she asked the servant what man it was walking in the field to meet them. The servant told her it was Isaac. Then she took a veil and covered her face with it, and came down from the camel; and Isaac brought her into the tent that used to be his mother's, for his mother was dead. And he took Rebekah, and she was his wife, and he loved her.

And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

And when he was a hundred and seventy-five years old he died, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, which he had bought from Ephron, where he had buried Sarah.

After Abraham was dead, God was very kind to Isaac and blessed him. And He gave Isaac and Rebekah two sons, whose names were Jacob and Esau ; Esau was the elder, and Jacob was the younger. Now in those days, the eldest son in every family had what was called the birthright. This made him the chief one among all the children; he was greater than any of the others. And when his father died, he got more of the silver and gold and cattle that had been his father's, than the others did; he got twice as much as any of them, because he had the birthright. And Esau was Isaac's eldest son, and therefore had the birthright.

When Esau and Jacob grew up to be men, Esau was a hunter ; he went out into the fields and killed deer, and brought the meat home to his father, because his father loved to eat of it. But Jacob lived at home in a tent, and helped to take care of his father's flocks. And one day Jacob made food called pottage. And Esau came in from his hunting very weary and faint, and he asked Jacob to give him his pottage. Jacob told him he would do so if Esau would sell him his birthright. Then Esau, because he felt weak and sick, said that he was going to die, and that the birthright would do him no good, so he sold it to Jacob, and Jacob gave him the pottage for it. It was wrong in Esau

Deut. xxi. 17.