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.

³¹ Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:

³⁸ These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not lost their young, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you the torn carcasses [of the animals attacked by predators]; I [personally] took the loss. You required of me [to make good] everything that was stolen, whether it occurred by day or night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: by day the heat consumed me and by night the cold, and ^[a]I could not sleep. ⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for [my share of] your flocks, and you have ^[b]changed my wages ten times.