Genesis 29
1 Then Jacob lifted up his feet, —and went his way towards the land of the sons of the East.
Jacob continued on the road [MTY], and he arrived at the land that was east of Canaan.
2 And he looked, and lo! a well, in the field and lo! there, three flocks of sheep, lying down near it, for out of that well, do they water the flocks, but, the stone, is great, on 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 so they gather together thither all the flocks, and roll away the stone from off the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, —and put back the stone upon the mouth of the well, to its place.
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, My brethren, whence are ye? And they said: From haran, are we.
[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, son of Nahor? And they said, We 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 it well with him? And they said, Well, but lo! Rachel his daughter, coming in 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 he said Lo! the day is yet high, it is not time for gathering together the cattle, —water the sheep, and go feed.
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 cannot, until that all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll away the stone, from off the mouth of the well, —and then can we water the sheep.
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 yet he was speaking with them, Rachel, had come in with the sheep which belonged to her father, for a shepherdess, was she.
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 daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled away the stone from off 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 lifted up his voice, and wept.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel [on the cheek], and he cried loudly [because he was so happy].
12 And when Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son, then ran she, and told her father.
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 tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fondly kissed him, and brought him into his house, —when he recounted to Laban all these things.
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, Surely, my bone and my flesh, art thou. So he abode with him a month of days.
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 Then said Laban to Jacob, Is it because my brother, thou art, that thou shouldst serve me for naught? Come tell me! What shall be thy wages?
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, Leah, 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 But, the eyes of Leah were weak, —whereas, Rachel, was comely in form and comely in countenance.
Leah had pretty eyes, but Rachel had a very attractive figure and was beautiful.
18 So Jacob loved Rachel, —and he said, I will serve thee seven years, for Rachel thy younger daughter.
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, Better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man, —Abide with me!
Laban replied, “It is better for me to let you marry her than for her to marry some other man!”
20 So Jacob served for Rachel—seven years, —and they became, in his eyes, as single days, for his love to 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 Then said Jacob unto Laban: Come give me my wife, for fulfilled are my days, —that I may go in unto 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 So Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a banquet,
So Laban gathered together all the people who lived in that area and made a feast.
23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her in unto him, —and he went in unto 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 her Zilpah, his handmaid, unto Leah his daughter. as handmaid.
(Laban had already given his slave girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid/servant.)
25 And it came to pass in the morning, that lo! it was Leah, —and he said unto Laban, What is this thou hast done to me? Was it not, for Rachel, I served with thee? Wherefore then 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 said, It must not be done so in our place, —to give the later-born before the firstborn.
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 the week of this one, —then must we give thee, the other one also, for the service wherewith thou shalt serve with me, yet seven years more.
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 the week of this one, —and he gave him Rachel his daughter—to him 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 Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid, —to be hers as a handmaid.
Laban gave his slave girl, Bilhah, to Rachel to be her maid/servant.
30 So he went in, unto Rachel also, and loved, Rachel also, more than Leah, —and he served with him, yet seven years more.
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 Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, he granted her to bear children, —whereas, 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 So Leah conceived, and bare a son, and called his name Reuben, —for she said, Because, Yahweh hath looked upon my humiliation, For, now, will my husband 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 bare a son, and said. Because Yahweh heard that, I, was hated, he gave me, this one also. So 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 again and bare a son, and said, Now—this time, will my husband be bound unto me, For I have borne him three sons, —For this cause, called she 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 she conceived again and bare a son, and said This time, will I praise Yahweh, For which cause, she called his name Judah. And she left off 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].
