Genesis 29
1 And Jacob started and went to the land of the east to Laban, the son of Bathuel the Syrian, and the brother of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau.
Jacob continued on the road [MTY], and he arrived at the land that was east of Canaan.
2 And he looks, and behold! a well in the plain; and there were there three flocks of sheep resting at it, for out of that well they watered the flocks, but there was a great stone at the mouth of the well.
There he [was surprised to] see a well in a field, and three flocks of sheep were lying near the well. It was the well from which shepherds habitually got water for their sheep. There was a large stone covering the top of the well.
3 And there were all the flocks gathered, and they used to roll away the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the flocks, and set the stone again in its place on the mouth of the well.
When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would work together to roll the stone away from the top of the well and get water for the sheep. When they finished doing that, they would put the stone back in its place over the top of the well.
4 And Jacob said to them, Brethren, whence are ye? and they said, We are of Charrhan.
[On that day], Jacob asked the shepherds who were sitting there, “Where are you from?” They replied, “We are from Haran.”
5 And he said to them, Know ye Laban, the son of Nachor? and they said, We do know [him].
He asked them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” They replied, “Yes, we know him.”
6 And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well. And behold Rachel his daughter came with the sheep.
Jacob asked them, “Is Laban well?” They replied, “Yes, he is well. Look! Here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!”
7 And Jacob said, it is yet high day, it is not yet time that the flocks be gathered together; water ye the flocks, and depart and feed them.
Jacob said, “Hey! The sun is still high in the sky. It is not time for the flocks to be gathered for nighttime. Give the sheep some water and then take them back to (graze/eat grass) in the pastures!”
8 And they said, We shall not be able, until all the shepherds be gathered together, and they shall roll away the stone from the mouth of the well, then we will water the flocks.
They replied, “No, we cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered here and the stone is removed from the top of the well. After that, we will give water to the sheep.”
9 While he was yet speaking to them, behold, Rachel the daughter of Laban came with her father's sheep, for she fed the sheep of her father.
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep. She was the one who took care of her father’s sheep.
10 And 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 came and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother.
When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, who was his mother’s brother, [Jacob was so excited that] he went over and [by himself] rolled away the stone that covered the top of the well, and he got water for his uncle’s sheep.
11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and cried with a loud voice and wept.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel [on the cheek], and he cried loudly [because he was so happy].
12 And he told Rachel that he was the near relative of her father, and the son of Rebecca; and she ran and reported to her father according to these words.
Jacob told Rachel that he was one of her father’s relatives, the son of her aunt Rebekah. So she ran and told that to her father.
13 And it came to pass when Laban heard the name of Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him, and brought him into his house; and he told Laban all these sayings.
As soon as Laban heard that Jacob, his sister’s son, was there, he ran to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him [on the cheek]. Then he brought him to his home, and Jacob told him all that had happened to him.
14 And Laban said to him, Thou art of my bones and of my flesh; and he was with him a full month.
Then Laban said to him, “Truly, you are part of my family!” After Jacob had stayed there and worked for Laban for a month,
15 And Laban said to Jacob, Surely thou shalt not serve me for nothing, because thou art my brother; tell me what thy reward is to be.
Laban said to him “(You should not work for me for nothing just because you are a relative of mine!/Why should you work for me for nothing just because you are a relative of mine?) [RHQ] Tell me how much you want me to pay you.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lea, and the name of the younger, Rachel.
Well, Laban had two daughters. The older one was named Leah, and the younger one was named Rachel.
17 And the eyes of Lea were weak. But Rachel was beautiful in appearance, and exceedingly fair in countenance.
Leah had pretty eyes, but Rachel had a very attractive figure and was beautiful.
18 And Jacob loved Rachel, and said, I will serve thee seven years for thy younger daughter Rachel.
Jacob (was in love with/wanted very much to be married to) Rachel, and he said, “I will work for you for seven years. That will be my payment for your letting me marry your younger daughter, Rachel.”
19 And Laban said to him, [It is] better that I should give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man; dwell with me.
Laban replied, “It is better for me to let you marry her than for her to marry some other man!”
20 And Jacob served for Rachel seven years, and they were before him as a few days, by reason of his loving her.
So Jacob worked for Laban for seven years to get Rachel, but to him it seemed like it was only a few days, because he loved her so much.
21 And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.
After the seven years were ended, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me marry Rachel now, because the time we agreed upon for me to work for you is ended, and I want to marry her. [EUP]”
22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a marriage-feast.
So Laban gathered together all the people who lived in that area and made a feast.
23 And it was even, and he took his daughter Lea, and brought her in to Jacob, and Jacob went in to her.
But that evening, instead of taking Rachel to Jacob, Laban took his older daughter, Leah, to him. But because it was already dark, he could not see that it was Leah and not Rachel, and he had sex [EUP] with her.
24 And Laban gave to his daughter Lea, Zelpha his handmaid, as a handmaid for her.
(Laban had already given his slave girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid/servant.)
25 And it was morning, and behold it was Lea; and Jacob said to Laban, What is this that thou hast done to me? did I not serve thee for Rachel? and wherefore hast thou deceived me?
The next morning, Jacob was shocked to see that it was Leah who was with him! So he went to Laban [and told him] very angrily, “(What you have done to me is disgusting!/What is this that you have done to me?) [RHQ] I worked for you to get Rachel, did I not? So why did you deceive me?”
26 And Laban answered, It is not done thus in our country, to give the younger before the elder.
Laban replied, “In this land, it is not our custom to give a younger daughter to be married before we let someone marry our firstborn daughter.
27 Fulfil then her sevens, and I will give to thee her also in return for thy labour, which thou labourest with me, yet seven other years.
After we finish this week of celebration, we will let you marry the younger one also. But in return, you must pay for Rachel by working for me for another seven years.”
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her sevens; and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife.
So that is what Jacob did. After the week of celebration was ended, Laban gave him his daughter, Rachel, to be his wife.
29 And Laban gave to his daughter his handmaid Balla, for a handmaid to her.
Laban gave his slave girl, Bilhah, to Rachel to be her maid/servant.
30 And he went in to Rachel; and he loved Rachel more than Lea; and he served him seven other years.
Jacob had sex [EUP] with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. And Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
31 And when the Lord God saw that Lea was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
When Yahweh saw that Jacob did not love Leah [very much], he enabled her to become pregnant. But Rachel was not able to become pregnant.
32 And Lea conceived and bore a son to Jacob; and she called his name, Ruben; saying, Because the Lord has looked on my humiliation, and has given me a son, now then my husband will love me.
Leah gave birth to a son, whom she named Reuben, [which sounds like the Hebrew words that mean ‘Look, a son]!’ She said, “Yahweh has seen that I was miserable, and because of that he has given me a son. Now, surely my husband will love me for giving birth to a son for him.”
33 And she conceived again, and bore a second son to Jacob; and she said, Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given to me this one also; and she called his name, Simeon.
Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “Because Yahweh has heard that my husband doesn’t love me, he has given me this son, too.” So she named him Simeon, [which means ‘someone who hears’].
34 And she conceived yet again, and bore a son, and said, In the present time my husband will be with me, for I have born him three sons; therefore she called his name, Levi.
Later she became pregnant again, and gave birth to another son. She said, “Now, finally, my husband will hold me close to him.” So she named him Levi, [which means ‘hold close’].
35 And having conceived yet again, she bore a son, and said, Now yet again this time will I give thanks to the Lord; therefore she called his name, Juda; and ceased bearing.
Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “(This time/Now) I will praise Yahweh.” So she called his name Judah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘praise’]. After that, she did not give birth to any more children [for several years].
