¹¹ At evening, the time when women went out to draw water, he made the camels kneel beside a well outside the town.

¹² “Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today,^(A) and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ I am standing here^(B) at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah,^(C) the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the girl was very beautiful,^(D) a virgin—no man had been intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.”

² He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. But a large stone covered the opening of the well. ³ The shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep when all the flocks^[a] were gathered there. Then they would return the stone to its place over the well’s opening.

⁴ Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?”

“We’re from Haran,” they answered.

⁵ “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” Jacob asked them.

They answered, “We know him.”

⁶ “Is he well?” Jacob asked.

“Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.”

⁷ Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.”

⁸ But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep,^[b] he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly.^{[c] 12} He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.