Genesis 28–29

Jacob Flees to Haran

28Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, “You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ²Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³Now, may El-Shaddai^a bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples. ⁴And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. ⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and^b he blessed him and instructed him, saying, “You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷and that Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram. ⁸Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, ⁹then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran. ¹¹And he arrived at a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and slept at that place. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it. ¹³And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,^c and he said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.” ¹⁶Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely Yahweh is indeed^d in this place and I did not know!” ¹⁷Then he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is nothing else than the house of God,^e and this is the gate of heaven!” ¹⁸And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city was formerly Luz. ²⁰And Jacob made a vow^f saying, “If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹and if I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God. ²²And this stone that I have set up as a pillar shall be the house of God, and of all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you.”

Jacob Flees to Haran

29And Jacob continued his journey^a and went to the land of the Easterners.^{b 2}And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the field, and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. And the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³And when all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well. And they watered the sheep and returned the stone upon the mouth of the well to its place. ⁴And Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵And he said to them, “Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶And he said to them, “Is he well?”^c And they said, “He is well. Now look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep.” ⁷And he said, “Look, it is still broad daylight;^d it is not the time for the livestock to be gathered. Give water to the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸And they said, “We are not able, until all the flocks are gathered. Then the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well, and we water the sheep.” ⁹While he was speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which belonged to her father, for she was pasturing them. ¹⁰And it happened that, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob drew near and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother. ¹¹And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was the relative of her father, and that he was the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father.¹³And it happened that when Laban heard the message about Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran to meet him. And he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my flesh and my bone!” And he stayed with him a month.

Jacob’s Marriages

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my brother should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wage should be.” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Now the eyes of Leah were dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸And Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” ¹⁹Then Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her. ²¹And Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, that I may go in to her, for my time^e is completed.” ²²So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast. ²³And it happened that in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her. ²⁴And Laban gave Zilpah his female slave to her, to Leah his daughter as a female servant. ²⁵And it happened that in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?” ²⁶Then Laban said, “It is not the custom^f in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷Complete the week of this one,^g then I will also give you the other, on the condition that you will work for me^h another seven years.” ²⁸And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this one,ⁱ then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife. ²⁹And Laban gave Bilhah his female slave to Rachel his daughter as a female servant. ³⁰Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

³¹When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³²Then Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because Yahweh has noticed my misery. Surely now my husband will love me.” ³³And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, “It is because Yahweh has heard that I am unloved that he gave me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore, she called his name Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.