Genesis 28-29

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.^{(A) 2} Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{(B) 3} May God Almighty^[a] bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.^{(C) 4} May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, land that God gave to Abraham.”^{(D) 5} Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau Marries Ishmael’s Daughter

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there and that as he blessed him he charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,”^{(E) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac,^{(F) 9} Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.^(G)

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹² And he dreamed that there was a stairway^[b] set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.^{(H) 13} And the Lord stood beside him^[c] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring,^{(I) 14} and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed^[d] in you and in your offspring.^{(J) 15} Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”^{(K) 16} Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”^{(L) 17} And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.^{(M) 19} He called that place Bethel,^[e] but the name of the city was Luz at the first.^{(N) 20} Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,^{(O) 21} so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,^{(P) 22} and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”^(Q)

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.^{(R) 2} As he looked, he saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying there beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.”^{(S) 5} He said to them, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?” They said, “We do.”^{(T) 6} He said to them, “Is it well with him?” “Yes,” they replied, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep.”^{(U) 7} He said, “Look, it is still broad daylight; it is not time for the animals to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.^{(V) 10} Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.^{(W) 11} Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.^(X)

¹³ When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob^[f] told Laban all these things,^{(Y) 14} and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.^(Z)

Jacob Marries Laban’s Daughters

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak,^[g] but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”^{(AA) 19} Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”^{(AB) 22} So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.^{(AC) 23} But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) ²⁵ When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”^{(AD) 28} Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban^[h] for another seven years.^(AE)

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.^{(AF) 32} Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,^[i] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”^{(AG) 33} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” and she named him Simeon.^{[j] 34} Again she conceived and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore he was named Levi.^{[k](AH) 35} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;^[l] then she ceased bearing.^(AI)