Genesis 28:6-30:24

Amplified Bible

⁶ Now Esau noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau realized that [his two wives] the daughters of Canaan displeased Isaac his father; ⁹ and [to appease his parents] Esau went to [the family of] Ishmael and took as his wife, in addition to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth [Ishmael’s firstborn son].

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Now Jacob left Beersheba [never to see his mother again] and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep]. ¹² He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].^{(A) 13} And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your ^[a]descendants.^{(B) 15} Behold, I am with you and will keep [careful watch over you and guard] you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this [promised] land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.” ¹⁷ So he was afraid and said, “How fearful and awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar [that is, a monument to the vision in his dream], and he poured [olive] oil on the top of it [to ^[b]consecrate it]. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel (the house of God); the previous name of that city was Luz (Almond Tree). ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow (promise), saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ and if [He grants that] I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. ²² This stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument, memorial) will be God’s house [a sacred place to me], and of everything that You give me I will give the tenth to You [as an offering to signify my gratitude and dependence on You].”^(C)

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[c]went on his way and came to the land of the people of the East [near Haran]. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying there [resting] beside it because the flocks were watered from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well [that covered and protected it] was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, water the sheep, and [afterward] replace the stone on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor [Abraham’s brother]?” And they replied, “We know him.” ⁶ And he asked them, “^[d]Is it well with him?” And they said, “He is doing well; look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!” ⁷ Jacob said, “Look, the sun is still high [overhead]; it is a long time before the flocks need to be gathered [in their folds for the night]. Water the sheep, and go, and return them to their pasture.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot [leave] until all the flocks are gathered together, and the shepherds roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we will water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw [his cousin] Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he came up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his uncle. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel [in greeting], and he raised his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Then Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you [as a hired workman] for seven years [in return] for [the privilege of marrying] Rachel your younger daughter.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her [in marriage] to you than give her to another man. Stay and work with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Finally, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time [of service] is completed, so that I may take her to me [as my wife].” ²² So Laban gathered together all the men of the place and prepared a [wedding] ^[e]feast [with wine]. ²³ But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob ^[f]went in to [consummate the marriage with] her. ²⁴ Laban also gave Zilpah his maid to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ But in the morning [when Jacob awoke], it was Leah [who was with him]! And he said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me? Did I not work for you [for seven years] for Rachel? Why have you deceived and betrayed me [like this]?” ²⁶ But Laban only said, “It is not ^[g]the tradition here to give the younger [daughter in marriage] before the older. ²⁷ Finish the week [of the wedding feast] for Leah; then we will give you Rachel also, and in return you shall work for me for seven more years.” ²⁸ So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave Bilhah his maid to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰ So Jacob consummated his marriage and lived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

³¹ Now when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He ^[h]made her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my humiliation and suffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].” ³³ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears). ³⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^[i]Levi. ³⁵ Again she conceived and gave birth to a [fourth] son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” So she named him ^[j]Judah; then [for a time] she stopped bearing [children].

The Sons of Jacob

30 When Rachel saw that she conceived no children for Jacob, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.” ² Then Jacob became furious with Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has denied you children?” ³ She said, “Here, take my maid Bilhah and go in to her; and [when the baby comes] she shall ^[k]deliver it [while sitting] on my knees, so that by her I may also have children [to count as my own].” ⁴ So she gave him Bilhah her maid as a [^[l]secondary] wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged and vindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son [through my maid].” So she named him Dan (He judged). ⁷ Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali (my wrestlings).

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a [^[m]secondary] wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son for Jacob. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune). ¹² Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ¹³ Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy).

¹⁴ Now at the time of wheat harvest Reuben [the eldest child] went and found some ^[n]mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened and answered [the prayer of] Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she named him ^[o]Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good [marriage] gift [for my husband]; now he will live with me [regarding me with honor as his wife], because I have given birth to six sons.” So she named him ^[p]Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered [the prayers of] Rachel, and God thought of her and opened her womb [so that she would conceive]. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son; and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace and humiliation.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph (may He add) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”