Genesis 28–31

28Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and said to him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. ²Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. ³May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations! ^4*May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!” ⁵Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Takes Another Wife

⁶Esau learnt that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learnt that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman. ⁷He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia. ⁸Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women. ⁹So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰Jacob left Beersheba and started towards Haran. ¹¹At sunset he came to a holy place^l and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. ^12*He dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. ^13*And there was the Lord standing beside him.^m “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. ^14*They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.^{n 15}Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”

¹⁶Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn’t know it!” ¹⁷He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”

¹⁸Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God. ¹⁹He named the place Bethel.^o (The town there was once known as Luz.) ²⁰Then Jacob made a vow to the Lord: “If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing, ²¹and if I return safely to my father’s home, then you will be my God. ²²This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshipped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me.”

Jacob Arrives at Laban’s Home

29Jacob continued on his way and went towards the land of the East. ²Suddenly he came upon a well out in the fields with three flocks of sheep lying round it. The flocks were watered from this well, which had a large stone over the opening. ³Whenever all the flocks came together there, the shepherds would roll the stone back and water them. Then they would put the stone back in place.

⁴Jacob asked the shepherds, “My friends, where are you from?”

“From Haran,” they answered.

⁵He asked, “Do you know Laban, grandson of Nahor?”

“Yes, we do,” they answered.

⁶“Is he well?” he asked.

“He is well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with his flock.”

⁷Jacob said, “Since it is still broad daylight and not yet time to bring the flocks in, why don’t you water them and take them back to pasture?”

⁸They answered, “We can’t do that until all the flocks are here and the stone has been rolled back; then we will water the flocks.”

⁹While Jacob was still talking to them, Rachel arrived with the flock. ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel with his uncle Laban’s flock, he went to the well, rolled the stone back, and watered the sheep. ¹¹Then he kissed her and began to cry for joy. ¹²He told her, “I am your father’s relative, the son of Rebecca.”

She ran to tell her father; ¹³and when he heard the news about his nephew Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him into the house. When Jacob told Laban everything that had happened, ¹⁴Laban said, “Yes, indeed, you are my own flesh and blood.” Jacob stayed there a whole month.

Jacob Serves Laban for Rachel and Leah

¹⁵Laban said to Jacob, “You shouldn’t work for me for nothing just because you are my relative. How much pay do you want?” ¹⁶Laban had two daughters; the elder was named Leah, and the younger Rachel. ¹⁷Leah had lovely^p eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

¹⁸Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “I will work seven years for you, if you will let me marry Rachel.”

¹⁹Laban answered, “I would rather give her to you than to anyone else; stay here with me.” ²⁰Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “The time is up; let me marry your daughter.” ²²So Laban gave a wedding feast and invited everyone. ²³But that night, instead of Rachel, he took Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had intercourse with her. ²⁴(Laban gave his slave woman Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.) ²⁵Not until the next morning did Jacob discover that it was Leah. He went to Laban and said, “Why did you do this to me? I worked to get Rachel. Why have you tricked me?”

²⁶Laban answered, “It is not the custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder. ²⁷Wait until the week’s marriage celebrations are over, and I will give you Rachel, if you will work for me another seven years.”

²⁸Jacob agreed, and when the week of marriage celebrations was over, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹(Laban gave his slave woman Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.) ³⁰Jacob had intercourse with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Then he worked for Laban another seven years.

The Children Born to Jacob

³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel remained childless. ³²Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord has seen my trouble, and now my husband will love me”; so she named him Reuben.^{q 33}She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “The Lord has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved”; so she named him Simeon.^{r 34}Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She said, “Now my husband will be bound more tightly to me, because I have borne him three sons”; so she named him Levi.^{s 35}Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord”; so she named him Judah.^t Then she stopped having children.

30But Rachel had not borne Jacob any children, and so she became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die.”

²Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “I can’t take the place of God. He is the one who keeps you from having children.”

³She said, “Here is my slave Bilhah; sleep with her, so that she can have a child for me. In this way I can become a mother through her.” ⁴So she gave Bilhah to her husband, and he had intercourse with her. ⁵Bilhah became pregnant and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Rachel said, “God has judged in my favour. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son”; so she named him Dan.^{u 7}Bilhah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel said, “I have fought a hard fight with my sister, but I have won”; so she named him Naphtali.^v

⁹When Leah realized that she had stopped having children, she gave her slave Zilpah to Jacob as his wife. ¹⁰Then Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Leah said, “I have been lucky”; so she named him Gad.^{w 12}Zilpah bore Jacob another son, ¹³and Leah said, “How happy I am! Now women will call me happy”; so she named him Asher.^x

¹⁴During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the fields and found mandrakes,^y which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵Leah answered, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you are even trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”

Rachel said, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”

¹⁶When Jacob came in from the fields in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are going to sleep with me tonight, because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had intercourse with her that night.

¹⁷God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband”; so she named her son Issachar.^{z 19}Leah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now my husband will accept me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she named him Zebulun.^{a 21}Later she bore a daughter, whom she named Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel; he answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. ²³She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my disgrace by giving me a son. ²⁴May the Lord give me another son”; so she named him Joseph.^b

Jabob’s Bargain with Laban

²⁵After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go, so that I can return home. ²⁶Give me my wives and children that I have earned by working for you, and I will leave. You know how well I have served you.”

²⁷Laban said to him, “Let me say this: I have learnt by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. ²⁸Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

²⁹Jacob answered, “You know how I have worked for you and how your flocks have prospered under my care. ³⁰The little you had before I came has grown enormously, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I went.^c Now it is time for me to look out for my own interests.”

³¹“What shall I pay…