Genesis 28–29

28So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed^h him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.^{i 2}Go at once to Paddan Aram,^aj to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.^k Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{l 3}May God Almighty^bm blessⁿ you and make you fruitful^o and increase your numbers^p until you become a community of peoples. ⁴May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,^q so that you may take possession of the land^r where you now reside as a foreigner,^s the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,^t and he went to Paddan Aram,^u to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,^v the brother of Rebekah,^w who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”^{x 7}and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women^y were to his father Isaac;^{z 9}so he went to Ishmael^a and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth^b and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.^c

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰Jacob left Beersheba^d and set out for Harran.^{e 11}When he reached a certain place,^f he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head^g and lay down to sleep. ¹²He had a dream^h in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.^{i 13}There above it^c stood the Lord,^j and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.^k I will give you and your descendants the land^l on which you are lying.^{m 14}Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and youⁿ will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.^o All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^{dp 15}I am with you^q and will watch over you^r wherever you go,^s and I will bring you back to this land.^t I will not leave you^u until I have done what I have promised you.^v”^w

¹⁶When Jacob awoke from his sleep,^x he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!^y This is none other than the house of God;^z this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head^a and set it up as a pillar^b and poured oil on top of it.^{c 19}He called that place Bethel,^ed though the city used to be called Luz.^e

²⁰Then Jacob made a vow,^f saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me^g on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear^{h 21}so that I return safelyⁱ to my father’s household,^j then the Lord^f will be my God^{k 22}and^g this stone that I have set up as a pillar^l will be God’s house,^m and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.ⁿ”

Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram

29Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.^{o 2}There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.^p The stone^q over the mouth of the well was large. ³When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone^r away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep.^s Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”^t

“We’re from Harran,^u” they replied.

⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”^v

“Yes, we know him,” they answered.

⁶Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”

“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel^w with the sheep.^x”

⁷“Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

⁸“We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone^y has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water^z the sheep.”

⁹While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep,^a for she was a shepherd. ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel^b daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone^c away from the mouth of the well and watered^d his uncle’s sheep.^{e 11}Then Jacob kissed^f Rachel and began to weep aloud.^{g 12}He had told Rachel that he was a relative^h of her father and a son of Rebekah.ⁱ So she ran and told her father.^j

¹³As soon as Laban^k heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him^l and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. ¹⁴Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”^m

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, ¹⁵Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relativeⁿ of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages^o should be.”

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah,^p and the name of the younger was Rachel.^{q 17}Leah had weak^a eyes, but Rachel^r had a lovely figure and was beautiful.^{s 18}Jacob was in love with Rachel^t and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”^u

¹⁹Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” ²⁰So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel,^v but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.^w

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.^x”

²²So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast.^{y 23}But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah^z and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. ²⁴And Laban gave his servant Zilpah^a to his daughter as her attendant.^b

²⁵When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me?^c I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?^d”

²⁶Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.^{e 27}Finish this daughter’s bridal week;^f then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.^g”

²⁸And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.^{h 29}Laban gave his servant Bilhahⁱ to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.^{j 30}Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah.^k And he worked for Laban another seven years.^l

Jacob’s Children

³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,^m he enabled her to conceive,ⁿ but Rachel remained childless. ³²Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^o She named him Reuben,^bp for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.^q Surely my husband will love me now.”

³³She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,^r he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.^cs

³⁴Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,^t because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.^du

³⁵She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^ev Then she stopped having children.^w