Genesis 29
1 And Jacob lifts up his feet, and goes toward the land of the sons of the east;
And so Jacob, setting out, arrived in the eastern land.
2 and he looks, and behold, a well in the field, and behold, there [are] three droves of a flock crouching by it, for they water the droves from that well, and the great stone [is] on the mouth of the well.
And he saw a well in a field, and also three flocks of sheep reclining near it. For the animals were watered from it, and its mouth was closed with a great stone.
3 (When all the droves have been gathered there, 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.)
And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together, to roll away the stone. And when the flocks had been refreshed, they placed it over the mouth of the well again.
4 And Jacob says to them, “My brothers, where [are] you from?” And they say, “We [are] from Haran.”
And he said to the shepherds, “Brothers, where are you from?” And they answered. “From Haran.”
5 And he says to them, “Have you known Laban, son of Nahor?” And they say, “We have known.”
And questioning them, he said, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.”
6 And he says to them, “Does he have peace?” And they say, “Peace; and behold, his daughter Rachel is coming with the flock.”
He said, “Is he well?” “He is very well,” they said. “And behold, his daughter Rachel approaches with his flock.”
7 And he says, “Behold, the day [is] still great, [it is] not time for the livestock to be gathered; water the flock, and go, delight yourselves.”
And Jacob said, “There is still much daylight remaining, and it is not time to return the flocks to the sheepfold. Give the sheep to drink first, and then lead them back to pasture.”
8 And they say, “We are not able, until 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.”
They responded, “We cannot, until all the animals are gathered together and we remove the stone from the mouth of the well, so that we may water the flocks.”
9 He is yet speaking with them, and Rachel has come with the flock which her father has, for she [is] shepherdess;
They were still speaking, and behold, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep; for she pastured the flock.
10 and it comes to pass, when Jacob has seen Rachel, daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the flock of his mother’s brother Laban, that Jacob comes near and rolls the stone from off the mouth of the well, and waters the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.
When Jacob had seen her, and he realized that she was his maternal first cousin, and that these were the sheep of his uncle Laban, he removed the stone which closed the well.
11 And Jacob kisses Rachel, and lifts up his voice, and weeps,
And having watered the flock, he kissed her. And lifting up his voice, he wept.
12 and Jacob declares to Rachel that he [is] her father’s brother, and that he [is] Rebekah’s son, and she runs and declares [it] to her father.
And he revealed to her that he was a brother of her father, and the son of Rebekah. And so, hurrying, she announced it to her father.
13 And it comes to pass, when Laban hears the report of his sister’s son Jacob, that he runs to meet him, and embraces him, and kisses him, and brings him into his house; and he recounts to Laban all these things,
And when he had heard that Jacob, his sister’s son, had arrived, he ran to meet him. And embracing him, and kissing him heartily, he brought him into his house. But when he had heard the reasons for his journey,
14 and Laban says to him, “You [are] surely my bone and my flesh”; and he dwells with him a month of days.
he responded, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And after the days of one month were completed,
15 And Laban says to Jacob, “Is it because you [are] my brother that you have served me for nothing? Declare to me what your hire [is].”
he said to him: “Though you are my brother, will you serve me for nothing? Tell me what wages you would accept.”
16 And Laban has two daughters, the name of the older [is] Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel,
In truth, he had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah; and truly the younger was called Rachel.
17 and the eyes of Leah [are] tender, and Rachel has been beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.
But while Leah was bleary-eyed, Rachel had an elegant appearance and was attractive to behold.
18 And Jacob loves Rachel and says, “I serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter”:
And Jacob, loving her, said, “I will serve you for seven years, for your younger daughter Rachel.”
19 and Laban says, “It is better for me to give her to you than to give her to another man; dwell with me”;
Laban responded, “It is better that I give her to you than to another man; remain with me.”
20 and Jacob serves for Rachel seven years; and they are in his eyes as some days, because of his loving her.
Therefore, Jacob served for seven years for Rachel. And these seemed like only a few days, because of the greatness of love.
21 And Jacob says to Laban, “Give up my wife, for my days have been fulfilled, and I go in to her”;
And he said to Laban, “Give my wife to me. For now the time has been fulfilled, so that I may go in to her.”
22 and Laban gathers all the men of the place, and makes a banquet.
And he, having called a great crowd of his friends to the feast, agreed to the marriage.
23 And it comes to pass in the evening, that he takes his daughter Leah, and brings her to him, and he goes in to her;
And at night, he brought in his daughter Leah to him,
24 and Laban gives his maidservant Zilpah to her, to his daughter Leah, [for] a maidservant.
giving his daughter a handmaid named Zilpah. After Jacob had gone in to her, according to custom, when morning had arrived, he saw Leah.
25 And it comes to pass in the morning, that behold, it [is] Leah; and he says to Laban, “What [is] this you have done to me? Have I not served with you for Rachel? And why have you deceived me?”
And he said to his father-in-law, “What is it that you intended to do? Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?”
26 And Laban says, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn;
Laban responded, “It is not the practice in this place to give the younger in marriage first.
27 fulfill the period of seven [for] this one, and we also give to you this one, for the service which you serve with me yet seven other years.”
Complete a week of days with this mating. And then I will give this one to you also, for the service that you will provide to me for another seven years.”
28 And Jacob does so, and fulfills the period of seven [for] this one, and he gives his daughter Rachel to him for a wife for him;
He agreed to his pleading. And after the week had passed, he took Rachel as a wife.
29 and Laban gives his maidservant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel for a maidservant for her.
To her, the father had given Bilhah as her servant.
30 And he also goes in to Rachel, and he also loves Rachel more than Leah; and he serves with him yet seven other years.
And, having at last obtained the marriage he desired, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and he served with him another seven years.
31 And YHWH sees that Leah [is] the hated one, and He opens her womb, and Rachel [is] barren;
But the Lord, seeing that he despised Leah, opened her womb, but her sister remained barren.
32 and Leah conceives, and bears a son, and calls his name Reuben, for she said, “Because YHWH has looked on my affliction; because now does my husband love me.”
Having conceived, she gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, saying: “The Lord saw my humiliation; now my husband will love me.”
33 And she conceives again, and bears a son, and says, “Because YHWH has heard that I [am] the hated one, He also gives to me even this [one]”; and she calls his name Simeon.
And again she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “Because the Lord heard that I was treated with contempt, he has also given this one to me.” And she called his name Simeon.
34 And she conceives again and bears a son, and says, “Now [is] the time, my husband is joined to me, because I have born to him three sons,” therefore has [one] called his name Levi.
And she conceived a third time, and she gave birth to another son, and she said: “Now likewise my husband will unite with me, because I have borne him three sons.” And because of this, she called his name Levi.
35 And she conceives again and bears a son, and this time says, “I praise YHWH”; therefore has she called his name Judah; and she ceases from bearing.
A fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “Only now will I confess to the Lord.” And for this reason, she called him Judah. And she ceased from child-bearing.
