Genesis 29
29
Chapter 29
Jacob works for his uncle Laban
1Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the people from the east live. 2He saw a well in a field. Three groups of sheep lay near it. Shepherds were taking water from the well to give to their sheep. There was a large stone that covered the top of the well. 3The shepherds waited until all the sheep were there together. Then they removed the stone from the top of the well. They gave their sheep water to drink, and then they put the stone back on the top of the well.
4Jacob asked the shepherds, ‘My brothers, where is your home?’
The shepherds replied, ‘We are from Haran.’
5Jacob said, ‘Do you know Laban? He is Nahor's grandson.’
The shepherds replied, ‘Yes, we know him.’
6Jacob asked them, ‘Is he in good health?’
They replied, ‘Yes, he is. Look. Here comes his daughter now, with her father's sheep. Her name is Rachel.’
7Jacob said to them, ‘The sun is still high in the sky. It is not yet the right time to bring all the sheep together. So give them some water now. Then they can go back to the fields and eat more grass.’
8The shepherds said, ‘We cannot do that. We have to wait until all the sheep are here together. Then we can remove the big stone from the well and we can give water to the sheep.’
9While Jacob was speaking to the shepherds, Rachel arrived there. She brought her father's sheep with her. She was the one who took care of them. 10Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban. He saw that she had Laban's sheep with her. So Jacob went to the well and he removed the big stone. He gave water to Laban's sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and he began to weep aloud. 12Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, Laban. He told her that he was Rebekah's son. So Rachel ran to tell her father.
13When Laban had heard what Rachel said, he went quickly to meet Jacob, his sister's son. He put his arms round Jacob and he kissed him. Laban brought Jacob to his home. Jacob told Laban all his news. 14Then Laban said, ‘Yes, you really are my own relative.’ So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
15Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘You should not work for me for nothing because you are my relative. Tell me what I should pay you.’
16Laban had two daughters. The name of the older daughter was Leah. The name of the younger daughter was Rachel. 17Leah had weak eyes. But Rachel was very beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel. He said to Laban, ‘I will work for you for seven years. In return, I want to marry your younger daughter, Rachel.’
19Laban said, ‘It is better for me to give her to you as your wife than to give her to another man. Stay here with me.’
20Jacob worked for seven years to have Rachel as his wife. But the years passed very quickly because Jacob loved Rachel very much. Seven years seemed like only a few days to Jacob.
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
21So finally, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time to work for you has finished and I want to marry her.’
22Laban called all the people in that place to come together. He prepared a big meal for them to eat. 23When evening came, Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob slept that night with her as his wife. 24Laban gave his female servant to Leah to be her servant. Her name was Zilpah.
25When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to have Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’
26Laban replied, ‘In our land, we do not give the younger daughter to a man first. We let the older daughter marry first. 27So finish this week of Leah's marriage. Then we will give you Rachel to marry too. But you must work for another seven years.’ #29:27 A marriage week was the seven days of the feast. Jacob had to sleep with his new wife Leah until the end of the week.
28So Jacob did what Laban said. He finished the marriage week with Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. 29Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to Rachel to become her servant. 30Jacob also slept with Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. He worked for Laban for seven more years.
Leah gives birth to four sons for Jacob
31The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. 32So Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. #29:32 The name ‘Reuben’ means ‘Look, a son!’ in Hebrew. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’
33Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son. He knows that my husband does not love me.’ She called this son Simeon. #29:33 The name ‘Simeon’ sounds like ‘Someone who hears’ in Hebrew.
34Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay near to me.’ She called this son Levi. #29:34 The name ‘Levi’ sounds like ‘Hold near’ in Hebrew.
35Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. #29:35 The name ‘Judah’ sounds like ‘Praise’ in Hebrew. Then she stopped giving birth to children.
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Genesis 29: EASY
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Genesis 29
29
Jacob went to Haran
1Then Jacob left that place, and he kept on walking towards the east, until he got to Paddan Aram country. 2-3Then Jacob looked at the land that was in front of him, and he saw a water-hole with a really big flat stone over the top, like a lid. And he saw 3 mobs of sheep lying next to that water-hole. There were some work-men there that looked after those sheep. Every day, those work-men used to meet together at that water-hole with their sheep, and then they worked together to move that big stone that was on top of the water-hole, and they got water for their sheep to drink. Then every day they put that big stone on top of the water-hole again.
4Jacob went and talked to those work-men. He said, “Hello. Where do you mob come from?”
The work-men said, “We are from Haran.”
5Then Jacob said, “Do you know Laban? His grand-father’s name is Nahor.”
The work-men said, “Yes, we know him.”
6Jacob said, “How is he?”
The work-men said, “He is good.” Then they said, “Look over there. Laban’s daughter Rachel is coming here with some sheep.”
7Then Jacob talked to the work-men again. He said, “Why are you mob waiting here, next to the water-hole? It’s only the middle of the day. It’s too early to bring your animals together to take them home. You should get water from the water-hole for your sheep to drink, and then take your sheep away and find grass for them to eat.”
8But the work-men said, “No, we can’t do that yet. We always wait until all the other work-men come here with their sheep. After that, we will move that big stone that is on top of the water-hole, and then we will get water for our sheep to drink.”
9While Jacob and the work-men were still talking to each other, Laban’s daughter Rachel came to the water-hole with some sheep. Those sheep belonged to Rachel’s father Laban, and Rachel looked after those sheep for her father.
10As soon as Jacob saw Rachel and those sheep, he felt really happy, because Rachel was his relative. Her father Laban was the brother of Jacob’s mother. So Jacob quickly went to the water-hole, and he moved that big stone that was on top of the water-hole, and he got water for Laban’s sheep to drink. 11Then he kissed Rachel on the cheek, and he started to cry out loud because he was so happy. 12Jacob said to Rachel, “I am your father’s relative. My mother’s name is Rebekah, and she is your father’s sister.”
Then Rachel ran home and told her father Laban what happened.
13As soon as Laban heard that his sister’s son Jacob came to Haran, he ran to meet Jacob. Then Laban hugged Jacob and kissed him on the cheek, and he took Jacob to his house. And Jacob told Laban about the things that happened to him. 14Then Laban talked to Jacob, and he said, “You and me, we are both from the same family.” After that, Jacob stayed at Laban’s house for one month, and he worked for Laban.
Jacob married Leah and Rachel
15-18Jacob’s uncle Laban had 2 daughters. His older daughter was called Leah, and his younger daughter was called Rachel. Leah had pretty eyes, but Rachel was really beautiful. So Jacob loved Rachel, and he wanted to marry her.
After one month, Laban talked to Jacob. Laban said, “You are working for me, but I am not paying you anything, because you are my relative. Is that fair? No way. I want to start paying you for the work that you do for me. Tell me, how much do you want me to pay you?”
Jacob said, “You don’t have to pay me anything. I just want to marry Rachel, your younger daughter. If I work for you for 7 years, will you give her to me to marry?”
19Then Laban said, “All right. You are our relative, so it’s best for Rachel to marry you, not another man. Stay here and work for me for 7 years, and then I will give her to you to marry.”
20So Jacob worked for Laban for 7 years, so that he could marry Rachel. Jacob really loved Rachel, and he felt really happy that he was going to marry her. He was so happy that those 7 years only felt like a few days.
21At the end of those 7 years, Jacob said to Laban, “I worked for you for 7 years, just like you said. So now, let me marry your daughter Rachel.”
22Then Laban made a wedding party. He got all the people that lived in that place to come to that wedding party, and he gave them lots of good food.
23But then, that night, Laban tricked Jacob. Laban took his daughter Leah to Jacob’s room, instead of his daughter Rachel. Then Jacob slept with Leah, like a man sleeps with his wife. But Jacob didn’t know that he slept with Leah. He thought that he slept with Rachel.
24-30The next morning, Jacob saw that Leah was in his room, instead of Rachel. So Jacob was angry, and he went and talked to Laban. Jacob said, “You told me that I have to work for you for 7 years, and then I can marry Rachel. So I worked those 7 years, just like you said, but then you tricked me. You gave me Leah to be my wife, instead of Rachel. Why did you do that bad thing to me?”
Laban said, “Leah is my older daughter, and Rachel is my younger daughter. In our culture, the older daughter always gets married first. That’s the reason why I gave you Leah to be your wife, instead of Rachel.”
Then Laban said, “Listen, your wedding party will finish in one week. So spend this week with Leah, and after that, I will give you Rachel to marry as well. But after you marry Rachel, you have to work for me for 7 more years.”
Jacob agreed to do what Laban said. After one week, Jacob and Leah’s wedding party finished. Then Laban gave his daughter Rachel to Jacob, and Jacob married Rachel as well. And Jacob slept with Rachel, like a man sleeps with his wife. So then Jacob had 2 wives, but he loved Rachel more than Leah.
Laban had some women that worked for him. And Laban gave one of those women to his daughter Leah, to work for her, and he gave another of those women to his daughter Rachel, to work for her. The woman that worked for Leah was called Zilpah, and the woman that worked for Rachel was called Bilhah.
Then Jacob worked for Laban for 7 more years.
Leah had 4 sons
31Jacob didn’t love his wife Leah. He only loved his wife Rachel. And God saw that Jacob didn’t love Leah. So God felt sorry for Leah, and he let her have kids. But Rachel couldn’t have any kids.
32This is the story about Leah and her kids.
A baby started to grow inside Leah, and she had a baby boy. Leah named that baby Reuben. That name means this is my son. And Leah said, “God saw that I was sad, so he gave me a son. Now I reckon my husband will love me.”
33Later on, Leah had another baby boy. And Leah said, “God heard that my husband doesn’t love me, so he gave me another son.” And Leah named that baby Simeon. That name means he heard.
34Later on, Leah had another baby boy. And Leah said, “Now I reckon my husband will love me and stay close to me, because I gave him 3 sons.” And Leah named that baby Levi. That name means stay close.
35Later on, Leah had another baby boy. And Leah said, “Now I will say thank you to God, and I will tell everybody that God is really great.” And Leah named that baby Judah. That name means thank you.
After that, Leah stopped having babies for a while.
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