Genesis 29–30

Jacob Meets Rachel

29So Jacob went on his journey ^aand came to the land of the people of the East. ²And he looked, and saw a ^bwell in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^cHaran.”

⁵Then he said to them, “Do you know ^dLaban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶So he said to them, ^e“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^fis coming with the sheep.”

⁷Then he said, “Look, it is still ¹high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹Now while he was still speaking with them, ^gRachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^hrolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹Then Jacob ⁱkissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^jher father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^kSo she ran and told her father.

¹³Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^lhe ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴And Laban said to him, ^m“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ⁿwhat should your wages be?” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were ²delicate, but Rachel was ^obeautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^p“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob ^qserved seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^rgo in to her.” ²²And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^smade a feast. ²³Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴And Laban gave his maid ^tZilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^udeceived me?”

²⁶And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ³country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27vFulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹And Laban gave his maid ^wBilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also ^xloved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban ^ystill another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

³¹When the Lord ^zsaw that Leah was ⁴unloved, He ^aopened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³²So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name ⁵Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely ^blooked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am ⁶unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name ⁷Simeon. ³⁴She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called ⁸Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^cJudah. ⁹Then she stopped bearing.

30Now when Rachel saw that ^ashe bore Jacob no children, Rachel ^benvied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, ^cor else I die!”

²And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, ^d“Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³So she said, “Here is ^emy maid Bilhah; go in to her, ^fand she will bear a child on my knees, ^gthat I also may ¹have children by her.” ⁴Then she gave him Bilhah her maid ^has wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has ⁱjudged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name ²Dan. ⁷And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “With ³great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name ⁴Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and ^jgave her to Jacob as wife. ¹⁰And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, ⁵“A troop comes!” So she called his name ⁶Gad. ¹²And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters ^kwill call me blessed.” So she called his name ⁷Asher.

¹⁴Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ^l“Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, ^m“Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”

And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

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

¹⁷And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name ⁸Issachar. ¹⁹Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ⁹Zebulun. ²¹Afterward she bore a ⁿdaughter, and called her name ¹Dinah.

²²Then God ^oremembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^popened her womb. ²³And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away ^qmy reproach.” ²⁴So she called his name ²Joseph, and said, ^r“The Lord shall add to me another son.”

Jacob’s Agreement with Laban

²⁵And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ^s“Send me away, that I may go to ^tmy own place and to my country. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children ^ufor whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

²⁷And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for ^vI have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” ²⁸Then he said, ^w“Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹So Jacob said to him, ^x“You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. ³⁰For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you ³since my coming. And now, when shall I also ^yprovide for my own house?”

³¹So he said, “What shall I give you?”

And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: ³²Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and ^zthese shall be my wages. ³³So my ^arighteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”

³⁴And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” ³⁵So he removed that day the male goats that were ^bspeckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ³⁶Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Now ^cJacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. ³⁸And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. ³⁹So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. ⁴²But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³Thus the man ^dbecame exceedingly prosperous, and ^ehad large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.