Genesis 29
29
Jacob Meets Rachel
1Then Jacob continued his trip. He went to the country in the East. 2He looked and saw a well in the field. There were three flocks of sheep lying near the well, where the sheep drank water. There was a large rock covering the mouth of the well. 3When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the rock away from the well. Then all the sheep could drink from the water. After the sheep were full, the shepherds would put the rock back in its place.
4Jacob said to the shepherds there, “Brothers, where are you from?”
They answered, “We are from Haran.”
5Then Jacob said, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”
The shepherds answered, “We know him.”
6Then Jacob said, “How is he?”
They answered, “He is well. Look, that is his daughter Rachel coming now with his sheep.”
7Jacob said, “Look, it is still day and long before the sun sets. It is not yet time for the animals to be gathered together for the night. So give them water and let them go back into the field.”
8But they said, “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered together. Then we will move the rock from the well, and all the sheep will drink.”
9While Jacob was talking with the shepherds, Rachel came with her father’s sheep. (It was her job to take care of the sheep.) 10Rachel was Laban’s daughter. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s mother. When Jacob saw Rachel, he went and moved the rock and gave water to the sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and cried. 12He told her that he was from her father’s family. He told her that he was the son of Rebekah. So Rachel ran home and told her father.
13When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. Laban hugged him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban everything that had happened.
14Then Laban said, “This is wonderful! You are from my own family.” So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
Laban Tricks Jacob
15One day Laban said to Jacob, “You are a relative of mine. It is not right for you to continue working for me without pay. What should I pay you?”
16Now Laban had two daughters. The older was Leah and the younger was Rachel.
17Leah’s eyes were gentle,#29:17 Leah’s eyes were gentle This might be a polite way of saying Leah was not very pretty. but Rachel was beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel, so he said to Laban, “I will work seven years for you if you will allow me to marry your daughter Rachel.”
19Laban said, “It would be better for her to marry you than someone else. So stay with me.”
20So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.
21After seven years Jacob said to Laban, “Give me Rachel so that I can marry her. My time of work for you is finished.”
22So Laban gave a party for all the people in that place. 23That night Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob and Leah had sexual relations together. 24(Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter to be her maid.) 25In the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah he had slept with, and he said to Laban, “You have tricked me. I worked hard for you so that I could marry Rachel. Why did you trick me?”
26Laban said, “In our country we don’t allow the younger daughter to marry before the older daughter. 27Continue for the full week of the marriage ceremony, and I will also give you Rachel to marry. But you must serve me another seven years.”
28So Jacob did this and finished the week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. 29(Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) 30So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
Jacob’s Family Grows
31The Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so he made it possible for Leah to have children. But Rachel did not have any children.
32Leah gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben.#29:32 Reuben This is like the Hebrew word meaning “Look, a son.” She named him this because she said, “The Lord has seen my troubles. My husband does not love me. So now maybe my husband will love me.”
33Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Simeon.#29:33 Simeon This is like the Hebrew word meaning “He hears.” She said, “The Lord has heard that I am not loved, so he gave me this son.”
34Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Levi.#29:34 Levi This is like the Hebrew word meaning “accompany,” “be joined together,” or “become close.” She said, “Now, surely my husband will love me. I have given him three sons.”
35Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named this son Judah.#29:35 Judah This name is like the word meaning “He is praised.” Leah named him this because she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Then Leah stopped having children.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 29
29
Chapter 29
Jacob and Laban
1Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the people from the east live. 2He saw a well in a field. Three groups of sheep lay near it. Shepherds took water from the well to give to their sheep. There was a large stone that covered the top of the well. 3The shepherds waited until all the sheep were there together. Then they removed the stone from the top of the well. They gave their sheep water to drink, and then they put the stone back on the top of the well.
4Jacob asked the shepherds, ‘My brothers, where are you from?’ The shepherds replied, ‘We are from Haran.’ 5Jacob said, ‘Do you know Laban? He is Nahor's grandson.’ The shepherds replied, ‘Yes, we know him.’ 6Jacob asked them, ‘Is he in good health?’ They replied, ‘Yes, he is. Look. Here comes his daughter now, with their sheep. Her name is Rachel.’ 7Jacob said to them, ‘The sun is still high in the sky. It is not yet the right time to bring all the sheep together. So give them some water now. Then they can go back to the fields and eat more grass.’ 8The shepherds said, ‘We cannot do that. We have to wait until all the sheep are here together. Then we can remove the big stone from the well and we can give water to the sheep.’
9When Jacob was speaking to the shepherds, Rachel arrived there. She brought her father's sheep with her. She was taking care of them.
10Jacob saw Rachel. She was the daughter of his uncle Laban. Jacob saw that she had Laban's sheep with her. So Jacob went to the well and he removed the big stone. Then he gave water to Laban's sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel. He began to weep loudly. #29:11 Jacob cried because he was happy to find his relatives.
12Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, Laban. He told her that he was Rebekah's son. So Rachel ran home to tell her father.
13When Laban heard what Rachel said, he went quickly to meet Jacob, his sister's son. He put his arms round Jacob and he kissed him. Laban brought Jacob to his home. Jacob told Laban all his news. 14Then Laban said, ‘Yes, you really are my own relative.’ So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
15Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘You should not work for me for nothing because you are my relative. Tell me what I should pay you.’ 16Laban had two daughters. The name of the older daughter was Leah. The name of the younger daughter was Rachel. 17Leah had weak eyes. But Rachel's face and her body were beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel. He said to Laban, ‘I will work for you for seven years. In return, I want to marry your younger daughter, Rachel.’ 19Laban said, ‘It is better for you to marry her than another man. Stay here with me.’
20Jacob worked for seven years to have Rachel as his wife. But the years passed very quickly because Jacob loved Rachel very much. Seven years seemed like only a few days to Jacob.
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
21After seven years, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time to work for you is finished and I want to marry her.’ 22Laban called all the people in that place to come together. He prepared a big meal for them to eat. 23When evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and he gave her to Jacob. Jacob slept that night with her as his wife. 24Laban gave his female servant to Leah to be her servant. Her name was Zilpah.
25When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to get Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’ 26Laban replied, ‘In our land, we do not give the younger daughter to a man first. We let the older daughter marry first. 27So finish this week of Leah's marriage. Then we will give you Rachel to marry too. But you must work for another seven years.’ #29:27 Laban had deceived Jacob. A marriage week was the seven days of the feast. Jacob had to sleep with his wife Leah until the end of the week.
28So Jacob did what Laban said. He finished the marriage week with Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. 29Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to Rachel to become her servant. 30Jacob also slept with Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. He worked for Laban for seven more years.
31The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. 32Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’
33Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son because he knows that I am not loved.’ She called this son Simeon.
34Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay with me.’ She called this son Levi.
35Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. Then she stopped giving birth to children.
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