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Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,
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Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
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Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.
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But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her.
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When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”
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And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
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Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
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Jacob’s Children
When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.
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Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
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When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
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Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
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Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him Gad.
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Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
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Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
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During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
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So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
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God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.
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Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
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Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
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Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.
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So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
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Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?
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So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
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Jacob Meets Esau
Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.
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He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
