Genesis 29:1–20

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.