Genesis 28–31

Jacob’s Departure

28Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women. ²Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you ^rso that you become an assembly of peoples. ^s4May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham ^tso that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” ^u5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” ⁷And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. ⁸Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, ^v9so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob at Bethel

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed: ^wA stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. ^x13Yahweh was standing there beside him, ^ysaying, “I am Yahweh, ^zthe God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. ¹⁴Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, ^aand you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ^b15Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, ^cfor I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ^d17He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it ¹⁹and named the place Bethel, ^ethough previously the city was named Luz. ^f20Then Jacob made a vow: ^g“If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹and if I return safely to my father’s house, ^hthen the Lord will be my God. ⁱ²²This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” ^j

Jacob Meets Rachel

29Jacob resumed his journey ^kand went to the eastern country. ^lm2He 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. A large stone covered the opening of the well. ³When all the flocks ⁿwere gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well’s opening.

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

“We’re from Haran,” they answered.

⁵“Do you know Laban grandson of Nahor?” 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.”

⁷Then 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.”

⁸But 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.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, ^ohe went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly. ^p12He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.

Jacob Deceived

¹³When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.

¹⁴Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” ^qr

After Jacob had stayed with him a month, ¹⁵Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. ¹⁷Leah had ordinary ^seyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. ¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ^t

¹⁹Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to sleep with ^uher.” ²²So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast. ²³That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. ²⁴And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.

²⁵When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”

²⁶Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. ²⁷Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”

²⁸And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. ³⁰Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. ^v

Jacob’s Sons

³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ^wHe opened her womb; ^xbut Rachel was unable to conceive. ^y32Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, ^zfor she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; ^asurely my husband will love me now.”

³³She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ^b

³⁴She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi. ^c

³⁵And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. ^deThen Leah stopped having children.

30When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” ^fshe said to Jacob.

²Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children ^gfrom you?”

³Then she said, “Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me ^hiso that through her I too can build a family.” ⁴So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. ⁵Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son,” and she named him Dan. ^j

⁷Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, ^kI have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali. ^l

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” ^mand she named him Gad. ⁿ

¹²When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, ¹³Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” ^oso she named him Asher. ^p

¹⁴Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. ^qWhen he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.

¹⁷God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar. ^r

¹⁹Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰“God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun. ^s21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. ^t23She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my shame.” ^u24She named him Joseph: ^v“May the Lord add another son to me.” ^w

Jacob’s Flocks Multiply

²⁵After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. ^xYou know how hard I have worked for you.”

²⁷But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” ^y

²⁹So Jacob said to him, “You know what I have done for you and your herds. ^z30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased.…