Genesis 29
29
1And Jacob lifteth up his feet, and goeth towards the land of the sons of the east;
2and he looketh, and lo, a well in the field, and lo, there three droves of a flock crouching by it, for from that well they water the droves, and the great stone [is] on the mouth of the well.
3(When thither have all the droves been gathered, and they have rolled the stone from off the mouth of the well, and have watered the flock, then they have turned back the stone on the mouth of the well to its place.)
4And Jacob saith to them, ‘My brethren, from whence [are] ye?’ and they say, ‘We [are] from Haran.’
5And he saith to them, ‘Have ye known Laban, son of Nahor?’ and they say, ‘We have known.’
6And he saith to them, ‘Hath he peace?’ and they say, ‘Peace; and lo, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock.’
7And he saith, ‘Lo, the day [is] still great, [it is] not time for the cattle to be gathered; water ye the flock, and go, delight yourselves.’
8And they say, ‘We are not able, till that all the droves be gathered together, and they have rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and we have watered the flock.’
9He is yet speaking with them, and Rachel hath come with the flock which her father hath, for she [is] shepherdess;
10and it cometh to pass when Jacob hath seen Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the flock of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob cometh nigh and rolleth the stone from off the mouth of the well, and watereth the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
11And Jacob kisseth Rachel, and lifteth up his voice, and weepeth,
12and Jacob declareth to Rachel that he [is] her father's brother, and that he [is] Rebekah's son, and she runneth and declareth to her father.
13And it cometh to pass, when Laban heareth the report of Jacob his sister's son, that he runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and kisseth him, and bringeth him in unto his house; and he recounteth to Laban all these things,
14and Laban saith to him, ‘Only my bone and my flesh [art] thou;’ and he dwelleth with him a month of days.
15And Laban saith to Jacob, ‘Is it because thou [art] my brother that thou hast served me for nought? declare to me what [is] thy hire.’
16And Laban hath two daughters, the name of the elder [is] Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel,
17and the eyes of Leah [are] tender, and Rachel hath been fair of form and fair of appearance.
18And Jacob loveth Rachel, and saith, ‘I serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter:’
19and Laban saith, ‘It is better for me to give her to thee than to give her to another man; dwell with me;’
20and Jacob serveth for Rachel seven years; and they are in his eyes as some days, because of his loving her.
21And Jacob saith unto Laban, ‘Give up my wife, for my days have been fulfilled, and I go in unto her;’
22and Laban gathereth all the men of the place, and maketh a banquet.
23And it cometh to pass in the evening, that he taketh Leah, his daughter, and bringeth her in unto him, and he goeth in unto her;
24and Laban giveth to her Zilpah, his maid-servant, to Leah his daughter, a maidservant.
25And it cometh to pass in the morning, that lo, it [is] Leah; and he saith unto Laban, ‘What [is] this thou hast done to me? for Rachel have I not served with thee? and why hast thou deceived me?’
26And Laban saith, ‘It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn;
27fulfil the week of this one, and we give to thee also this one, for the service which thou dost serve with me yet seven other years.’
28And Jacob doth so, and fulfilleth the week of this one, and he giveth to him Rachel his daughter, to him for a wife;
29and Laban giveth to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his maid-servant, for a maid-servant to her.
30And he goeth in also unto Rachel, and he also loveth Rachel more than Leah; and he serveth with him yet seven other years.
31And Jehovah seeth that Leah [is] the hated one, and He openeth her womb, and Rachel [is] barren;
32and Leah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Reuben, for she said, ‘Because Jehovah hath looked on mine affliction; because now doth my husband love me.’
33And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, ‘Because Jehovah hath heard that I [am] the hated one, He also giveth to me even this [one];’ and she calleth his name Simeon.
34And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, ‘Now [is] the time, my husband is joined unto me, because I have born to him three sons,’ therefore hath [one] called his name Levi.
35And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith this time, ‘I praise Jehovah;’ therefore hath she called his name Judah; and she ceaseth from bearing.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 29
29
1Jacob went quickly on his way,#29:1. “Went quickly on his way”: literally, “lifted up his feet.” and arrived in the land of the eastern people. 2As he looked around he saw a well in a field with three flocks of sheep lying down beside it, waiting to be given water. A large stone covered the top of the well. 3The usual practice was that#29:3. “The usual practice was that”: supplied for clarity. once all the flocks had arrived, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the well and give their sheep water. Then they would put the stone back again.
4Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?”
“We're from Haran,” they replied.
5“Do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson?” he asked.
“Yes, we know him,” they replied.
6“How is he?” he asked.
“He's well,” they replied. “Look! In fact here's his daughter Rachel coming with the sheep right now.”
7“Look, there's still plenty of daylight left,” said Jacob. “It's too early to round up the sheep yet. Why not let them drink so they can go back to grazing?”
8“We can't do that until all the flocks have arrived,” they told him. “Then we roll away the stone from the well and let the sheep drink.”
9While he was still talking with them Rachel arrived with the flock she was looking after for her father. 10When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, he went over and rolled away the stone from the well so Laban's sheep could drink. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept for joy. 12(He had told her that he was a relative of her father, Rebekah's son.) She ran and told her father what had happened.
13As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob he ran out to meet him. He hugged him and kissed him, and took him home. After Jacob had explained everything to Laban, 14Laban told him, “No question about it—you're my own flesh and blood!” Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
15One day Laban said to him, “You're my relative so you shouldn't be working for me for nothing! Tell me, what should I pay you?”
16Laban had two daughters. The older one was Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 17Leah had kind#29:17. “Kind”: literally, “soft” or “gentle.” eyes, but Rachel had a shapely figure and beautiful looks. 18Jacob was in love with Rachel so he promised Laban, “I'll do seven years work#29:18. “Seven years work”: in contrast to Abraham's servant Eliezer (chapter 24) Jacob had arrived with no gifts or dowry, so he offers his service as payment in kind. for you for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
19“Well it's better for me to give her to you than anyone else,” Laban replied. “So stay here and work for me.” 20Jacob worked for Laban for seven years, but to him they seemed like just a few days because he really loved her.
21Then Jacob said to Laban, “I've completed the time we agreed. Now give me your daughter to be my wife.”
22So Laban organized a wedding banquet#29:22. “A wedding banquet”: the word actually means “a drinking party,” which is probably the only way the deception could have been successful. and invited everyone around to come. 23But once it was dark Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24(Laban also arranged for his servant Zilpah to be Leah's personal maid.)
25When morning came, he saw it was Leah! He went to Laban and asked angrily, “What have you done to me? It was for Rachel that I worked for you! Why have you deceived me?”
26“Here we don't give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn,” Laban replied. 27“Finish this week of wedding celebrations and then I'll give you the other daughter as well, as long as you work another seven years for me.”
28Jacob agreed. He finished the week of wedding celebrations for Leah, and then Laban gave Jacob his daughter Rachel as his wife as well. 29(Laban also arranged for his servant Bilhah to be Rachel's personal maid.) 30So Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He worked for Laban another seven years for Rachel.
31When the Lord saw that Leah wasn't loved he helped Leah to have children, but not Rachel. 32Leah became pregnant, and had a son she named Reuben,#29:32. “Reuben”: means “Look, a son!” and also sounds like “he saw my suffering.” for she said, “The Lord saw how much I was suffering and now my husband will love me!”
33Then Leah became pregnant again, and had another son. She said, “The Lord has heard that I'm not loved so he gave me this son.” So she named him Simeon.#29:33. “Simeon”: means “he hears.”
34Leah became pregnant for the third time, and had another son. She said, “Finally my husband will be attached to me because now I've given him three sons.” That's why he was named Levi.#29:34. “Levi”: means “attached” or “joined.”
35Once again Leah became pregnant and had another son. She named him Judah,#29:35. “Judah”: means “praise.” for she said, “Now I can really praise the Lord!” After that she had no more children.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com