Genesis 29–35

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.

Jacob’s Children

30When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, “Give me children—if not, I will die!” ²And Jacob became angry^a with Rachel. And he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³Then she said, “Here is my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children as my surrogate.^b Then I will even have children^c by her.” ⁴Then she gave him Bilhah, her female slave, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷And Bilhah, Rachel’s female slave, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob. ⁸And Rachel said, “I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed.” And she called his name Naphtali. ⁹When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female slave and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob. ¹¹Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” And she called his name Gad. ¹²And Zilpah, Leah’s female slave, bore a second son to Jacob. ¹³Then Leah said, “How happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵And she said to her, “Is your taking my husband such a small thing that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?” Then Rachel said, “Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, “Come in to me, for I have hired^d you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night. ¹⁷And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸Then Leah said, “God has given me my wage since I gave my slave girl to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar. ¹⁹And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun. ²¹And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah. ²²Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb. ²³And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴And she called his name Joseph, saying, “Yahweh has added to me another son.”

Jacob’s Prosperity

²⁵And it happened that as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and my land. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you.” ²⁷But Laban said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸And he said, “Name your wage to me and I will give it.” ²⁹Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.^{e 30}For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned.^f So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?” ³¹And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep them. ³²Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with^g every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That^h shall be my wages. ³³And my righteousness will answer for me laterⁱ when you come concerning my wages before you. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen if it is with me.” ³⁴Then Laban said, “Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word.” ³⁵But that day he^j removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that had white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and put them in the charge of his sons.^{k 36}And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban’s flock. ³⁷Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which was on the branches. ³⁸And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs that were in the water containers, where the flocks came to drink. And they were in heat when they came to drink. ³⁹And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban’s flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. ⁴¹And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches in full view^l of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. ⁴²But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put them there. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger were…