Genesis 29–30

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

29Then Jacob went on his journey and came to ^kthe land of the people of the east. ²As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, ^l“We are from Haran.” ⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, ^mRachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was ⁿher father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, ^oand she ran and told her father.

¹³As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, ^ohe ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴and Laban said to him, ^p“Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were weak,¹ but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, ^q“I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob ^qserved seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²²So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and ^rmade a feast. ²³But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴(Laban gave^{2 s}his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27tComplete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹(Laban gave ^uhis female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban ^vfor another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was ^whated, ^xhe opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³²And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,³ for she said, “Because the Lord ^yhas looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.^{4 34}Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be ^zattached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.^{5 35}And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^aJudah.⁶ Then she ceased bearing.

30When Rachel saw that ^bshe bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ²Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, ^cwho has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³Then she said, “Here is my servant ^dBilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth ^eon my behalf,¹ that even I may have children² through her.” ⁴So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has ^fjudged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.^{3 7}Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings⁴ I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name ^gNaphtali.⁵

⁹When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and ^hgave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹And Leah said, ⁱ“Good fortune has come!” so she called his name ⁱGad.^{6 12}Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women ^jhave called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.⁷

¹⁴In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^kmandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.⁸

¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ^lZebulun.^{9 21}Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

²²Then God ^mremembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ⁿopened her womb. ²³She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away ^omy reproach.” ²⁴And she called his name Joseph,¹⁰ saying, ^p“May the Lord add to me another son!”

Jacob’s Prosperity

²⁵As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children ^qfor whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” ²⁷But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that¹¹ the Lord has blessed me because of you. ^28rName your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹Jacob said to him, ^s“You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. ³⁰For you had little before I came, ^tand it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I ^uprovide for my own household also?” ³¹He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: ³²let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and ^vthey shall be my wages. ³³So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” ³⁴Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. ³⁶And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷Then ^wJacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. ³⁸He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the ^xwatering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, ⁴²but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³Thus the man ^yincreased greatly and ^zhad large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.