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Genesis 27-29
Easy-to-Read Version
Genesis 27-29
Easy-to-Read Version
Jacob Tricks Isaac
27 Isaac grew old, and his eyes became so weak that he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, “Son!”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2 Isaac said, “I am old. Maybe I will die soon. 3 So take your bow and arrows and go hunting. Kill an animal for me to eat. 4 Prepare the food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat it. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5 So Esau went hunting.
Rebekah was listening when Isaac told this to his son Esau. 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. 7 Your father said, ‘Kill an animal for me to eat. Prepare the food for me, and I will eat it. Then, with the Lord as witness, I will bless you before I die.’ 8 So listen, son, and do what I tell you. 9 Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them the way your father loves them. 10 Then you will carry the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”
11 But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him. 12 If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him.”
13 So Rebekah said to him, “I will accept the blame if there is trouble. Do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”
14 So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the clothes that her older son Esau loved to wear. She put these clothes on the younger son Jacob. 16 She took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. 17 Then she got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob.
18 Jacob went to his father and said, “Father.”
His father answered, “Yes, son. Who are you?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat the meat from the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22 So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau.” 23 Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s. So Isaac blessed Jacob.
24 Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
The Blessing for Jacob
25 Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate it. Then Jacob gave him some wine, and he drank it.
26 Then Isaac said to him. “Son, come near and kiss me.” 27 So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes, he blessed him and said,
“My son smells like the fields
the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you plenty of rain,
good crops, and wine.
29 May the nations serve you
and many people bow down to you.
You will rule over your brothers.
Your mother’s sons will bow down to you and obey you.
Whoever curses you will be cursed.
Whoever blesses you will be blessed.”
Esau’s “Blessing”
30 Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31 Esau prepared the food in the special way his father loved. He brought it to his father and said, “Father, I am your son. Get up and eat the meat from the animals that I killed for you. Then you can bless me.”
32 But Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your first son—Esau.”
33 Then Isaac became so upset that he began to shake. He said, “Then who was it that cooked and brought me food before you came? I ate it all, and I blessed him. Now it is too late to take back my blessing.”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he became very angry and bitter. He cried out and said to his father, “Then bless me also, father!”
35 Isaac said, “Your brother tricked me! He came and took your blessing!”
36 Esau said, “His name is Jacob.[a] That is the right name for him. He has tricked me twice. He took away my rights as the firstborn son. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau said, “Have you saved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered, “I have already given Jacob the power to rule over you. And I said all his brothers would be his servants. I have given him the blessing for much grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
38 But Esau continued to beg his father. “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me also, father!” Esau began to cry.
39 Then Isaac said to him,
“You will not live on good land.
You will not have much rain.
40 You will have to fight to live,
and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you fight to be free,
you will break away from his control.”
Jacob Leaves the Country
41 After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, “My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob.”
42 Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. 43 So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. 44 Stay with him for a short time until your brother stops being angry. 45 When your brother forgets what you did to him, I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons the same day.”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I’ll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!”
28 Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then Isaac gave him a command and said, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 So leave this place and go to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters. 3 I pray that God All-Powerful[b] will bless you and give you many children. I pray that you will become the father of a great nation 4 and that God will bless you and your children the same way he blessed Abraham. And I pray that you will own the land where you live. This is the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s brother in Paddan Aram. Jacob went to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Esau learned that his father Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman. 7 Esau learned that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau saw from this that his father did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women. 9 Esau already had two wives, but he went to Abraham’s son Ishmael and married another woman, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. Mahalath was Nebaioth’s sister.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. 11 The sun had already set when he came to a good place to spend the night. He took a rock there and laid his head on it to sleep. 12 Jacob had a dream. He dreamed there was a ladder that was on the ground and reached up into heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder. 13 And then Jacob saw the Lord standing by the ladder. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I will give you the land that you are lying on now. I will give this land to you and to your children. 14 You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.
15 “I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”
16 Then Jacob woke up and said, “I know that the Lord is in this place, but I did not know he was here until I slept.”
17 Jacob was afraid and said, “This is a very great place. This is the house of God. This is the gate to heaven.”
18 Jacob got up very early in the morning. He took the rock he had slept on and set it up on its edge. Then he poured oil on the rock. In this way he made it a memorial to God. 19 The name of that place was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.[c]
20 Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “If God will be with me, and if he will protect me on this trip, and if he gives me food to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and if I return in peace to my father’s house—if he does all these things—then the Lord will be my God. 22 I am setting this stone up as a memorial stone. It will show that this is a holy place for God, and I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me.”
Jacob Meets Rachel
29 Then Jacob continued his trip. He went to the country in the East. 2 He looked and saw a well in the field. There were three flocks of sheep lying near the well, where the sheep drank water. There was a large rock covering the mouth of the well. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the rock away from the well. Then all the sheep could drink from the water. After the sheep were full, the shepherds would put the rock back in its place.
4 Jacob said to the shepherds there, “Brothers, where are you from?”
They answered, “We are from Haran.”
5 Then Jacob said, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”
The shepherds answered, “We know him.”
6 Then Jacob said, “How is he?”
They answered, “He is well. Look, that is his daughter Rachel coming now with his sheep.”
7 Jacob said, “Look, it is still day and long before the sun sets. It is not yet time for the animals to be gathered together for the night. So give them water and let them go back into the field.”
8 But they said, “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered together. Then we will move the rock from the well, and all the sheep will drink.”
9 While Jacob was talking with the shepherds, Rachel came with her father’s sheep. (It was her job to take care of the sheep.) 10 Rachel was Laban’s daughter. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s mother. When Jacob saw Rachel, he went and moved the rock and gave water to the sheep. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and cried. 12 He told her that he was from her father’s family. He told her that he was the son of Rebekah. So Rachel ran home and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. Laban hugged him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban everything that had happened.
14 Then Laban said, “This is wonderful! You are from my own family.” So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
Laban Tricks Jacob
15 One day Laban said to Jacob, “You are a relative of mine. It is not right for you to continue working for me without pay. What should I pay you?”
16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older was Leah and the younger was Rachel.
17 Leah’s eyes were gentle,[d] but Rachel was beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said to Laban, “I will work seven years for you if you will allow me to marry your daughter Rachel.”
19 Laban said, “It would be better for her to marry you than someone else. So stay with me.”
20 So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.
21 After seven years Jacob said to Laban, “Give me Rachel so that I can marry her. My time of work for you is finished.”
22 So Laban gave a party for all the people in that place. 23 That night Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob and Leah had sexual relations together. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter to be her maid.) 25 In the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah he had slept with, and he said to Laban, “You have tricked me. I worked hard for you so that I could marry Rachel. Why did you trick me?”
26 Laban said, “In our country we don’t allow the younger daughter to marry before the older daughter. 27 Continue for the full week of the marriage ceremony, and I will also give you Rachel to marry. But you must serve me another seven years.”
28 So Jacob did this and finished the 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 had sexual relations with Rachel also. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
Jacob’s Family Grows
31 The Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so he made it possible for Leah to have children. But Rachel did not have any children.
32 Leah gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben.[e] She named him this because she said, “The Lord has seen my troubles. My husband does not love me. So now maybe my husband will love me.”
33 Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Simeon.[f] She said, “The Lord has heard that I am not loved, so he gave me this son.”
34 Leah became pregnant again and had another son. She named this son Levi.[g] She said, “Now, surely my husband will love me. I have given him three sons.”
35 Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named this son Judah.[h] Leah named him this because she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Then Leah stopped having children.
Footnotes
- Genesis 27:36 Jacob This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “heel.” It also means “the one who follows” or “tricky.”
- Genesis 28:3 God All-Powerful Literally, “El Shaddai.”
- Genesis 28:19 Bethel A town in Israel. This name means “God’s house.”
- Genesis 29:17 Leah’s eyes were gentle This might be a polite way of saying Leah was not very pretty.
- Genesis 29:32 Reuben This is like the Hebrew word meaning “Look, a son.”
- Genesis 29:33 Simeon This is like the Hebrew word meaning “He hears.”
- Genesis 29:34 Levi This is like the Hebrew word meaning “accompany,” “be joined together,” or “become close.”
- Genesis 29:35 Judah This name is like the word meaning “He is praised.”
Genesis 27-29
New International Version
Genesis 27-29
New International Version
27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,(A) he called for Esau his older son(B) and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.(C) 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country(D) to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like(E) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing(F) before I die.”(G)
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country(H) to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob,(I) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’(J) 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:(K) 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,(L) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.(M) 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing(N) before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man(O) while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me?(P) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse(Q) on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.(R) Just do what I say;(S) go and get them for me.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.(T) 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes(U) of Esau her older son,(V) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.(W) 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”(X)
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.(Y) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,(Z) so that you may give me your blessing.”(AA)
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success,(AB)” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,(AC) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac,(AD) who touched(AE) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;(AF) so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”(AG)
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed(AH) him(AI). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,(AJ) he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.(AK)
28 May God give you heaven’s dew(AL)
and earth’s richness(AM)—
an abundance of grain(AN) and new wine.(AO)
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.(AP)
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(AQ)
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.(AR)”
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”(AS)
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”(AT)
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.(AU)”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?(AV) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!(AW)”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry(AX) and said to his father, “Bless(AY) me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully(AZ) and took your blessing.”(BA)
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]?(BB) This is the second time he has taken advantage of(BC) me: He took my birthright,(BD) and now he’s taken my blessing!”(BE) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.(BF) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.(BG)
39 His father Isaac answered him,(BH)
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew(BI) of heaven above.(BJ)
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve(BK) your brother.(BL)
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.(BM)”
41 Esau held a grudge(BN) against Jacob(BO) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning(BP) for my father are near; then I will kill(BQ) my brother Jacob.”(BR)
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau(BS) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.(BT) 43 Now then, my son, do what I say:(BU) Flee at once to my brother Laban(BV) in Harran.(BW) 44 Stay with him for a while(BX) until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,(BY) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.(BZ) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite(CA) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,(CB) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”(CC)
28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed(CD) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.(CE) 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,[b](CF) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.(CG) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.(CH) 3 May God Almighty[c](CI) bless(CJ) you and make you fruitful(CK) and increase your numbers(CL) until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,(CM) so that you may take possession of the land(CN) where you now reside as a foreigner,(CO) the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,(CP) and he went to Paddan Aram,(CQ) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,(CR) the brother of Rebekah,(CS) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”(CT) 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women(CU) were to his father Isaac;(CV) 9 so he went to Ishmael(CW) and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth(CX) and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.(CY)
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba(CZ) and set out for Harran.(DA) 11 When he reached a certain place,(DB) he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head(DC) and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream(DD) in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.(DE) 13 There above it[d] stood the Lord,(DF) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.(DG) I will give you and your descendants the land(DH) on which you are lying.(DI) 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you(DJ) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.(DK) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[e](DL) 15 I am with you(DM) and will watch over you(DN) wherever you go,(DO) and I will bring you back to this land.(DP) I will not leave you(DQ) until I have done what I have promised you.(DR)”(DS)
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep,(DT) he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!(DU) This is none other than the house of God;(DV) this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head(DW) and set it up as a pillar(DX) and poured oil on top of it.(DY) 19 He called that place Bethel,[f](DZ) though the city used to be called Luz.(EA)
20 Then Jacob made a vow,(EB) saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me(EC) on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear(ED) 21 so that I return safely(EE) to my father’s household,(EF) then the Lord[g] will be my God(EG) 22 and[h] this stone that I have set up as a pillar(EH) will be God’s house,(EI) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.(EJ)”
Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram
29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.(EK) 2 There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.(EL) The stone(EM) over the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone(EN) away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep.(EO) Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”(EP)
“We’re from Harran,(EQ)” they replied.
5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”(ER)
“Yes, we know him,” they answered.
6 Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”
“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel(ES) with the sheep.(ET)”
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”
8 “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone(EU) has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water(EV) the sheep.”
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep,(EW) for she was a shepherd. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel(EX) daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone(EY) away from the mouth of the well and watered(EZ) his uncle’s sheep.(FA) 11 Then Jacob kissed(FB) Rachel and began to weep aloud.(FC) 12 He had told Rachel that he was a relative(FD) of her father and a son of Rebekah.(FE) So she ran and told her father.(FF)
13 As soon as Laban(FG) heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him(FH) and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. 14 Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”(FI)
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative(FJ) of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages(FK) should be.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah,(FL) and the name of the younger was Rachel.(FM) 17 Leah had weak[i] eyes, but Rachel(FN) had a lovely figure and was beautiful.(FO) 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel(FP) and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”(FQ)
19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel,(FR) but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.(FS)
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.(FT)”
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast.(FU) 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah(FV) and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24 And Laban gave his servant Zilpah(FW) to his daughter as her attendant.(FX)
25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me?(FY) I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?(FZ)”
26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.(GA) 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week;(GB) then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.(GC)”
28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.(GD) 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah(GE) to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.(GF) 30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah.(GG) And he worked for Laban another seven years.(GH)
Jacob’s Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,(GI) he enabled her to conceive,(GJ) but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.(GK) She named him Reuben,[j](GL) for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.(GM) Surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,(GN) he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[k](GO)
34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,(GP) because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.[l](GQ)
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.[m](GR) Then she stopped having children.(GS)
Footnotes
- Genesis 27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
- Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
- Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
- Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 28:19 Bethel means house of God.
- Genesis 28:21 Or Since God … father’s household, the Lord
- Genesis 28:22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then
- Genesis 29:17 Or delicate
- Genesis 29:32 Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son.
- Genesis 29:33 Simeon probably means one who hears.
- Genesis 29:34 Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached.
- Genesis 29:35 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
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