Genesis 28:1-30:24

New American Standard Bible

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and ^(A)blessed him and commanded him, ^[a]saying to him, “^(B)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(C)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[b](D)God Almighty ^(E)bless you and ^(F)make you fruitful and ^(G)multiply you, so that you may become a ^(H)multitude of peoples. ⁴ May He also give you the ^(I)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^[c]descendants with you, so that you may ^(J)possess the land where you ^(K)live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then ^(L)Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, saying, “^(M)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau saw that ^(N)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^[d]his father Isaac; ⁹ and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^[e]married, ^(O)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Then Jacob departed from ^(P)Beersheba and went toward ^(Q)Haran. ¹¹ And he ^[f]happened upon a ^[g](R)particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. ¹² And ^(S)he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, ^(T)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ Then behold, ^(U)the Lord was standing ^[h]above it and said, “I am the Lord, ^(V)the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give ^(W)to you and to ^(X)your ^[i]descendants. ¹⁴ Your ^[j]descendants will also be like ^(Y)the dust of the earth, and you will ^[k]spread out ^(Z)to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and ^(AA)in you and in your ^[l]descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(AB)I am with you and ^(AC)will keep you wherever you go, and ^(AD)will bring you back to this land; for ^(AE)I will not leave you until I have done what I have ^[m]promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob ^(AF)awoke from his sleep and said, “^(AG)The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “^(AH)How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took ^(AI)the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top. ¹⁹ Then he named that place ^[n](AJ)Bethel; but ^[o]previously the name of the city had been ^(AK)Luz. ²⁰ Jacob also ^(AL)made a vow, saying, “^(AM)If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I ^[p]take, and give me ^[q](AN)food to eat and garments to wear, ²¹ and ^(AO)I return to my father’s house in ^[r]safety, ^(AP)then the Lord will be my God. ²² And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, ^(AQ)will be God’s house, and ^(AR)of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[s]set out on his journey, and went to the land of ^(AS)the ^[t]people of the east. ² He looked, and ^[u]saw ^(AT)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, because they watered the flocks from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, they would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from ^(AU)Haran.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the ^(AV)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is his daughter ^(AW)Rachel coming with the sheep.” ⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone 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 was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ 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 mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(AX)kissed Rachel, and raised his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was a ^(AY)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and ^(AZ)she ran and told her father.

¹³ So when ^(BA)Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and ^(BB)embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, “You certainly are ^(BC)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall ^(BD)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 And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was ^(BE)beautiful in figure and appearance. ¹⁸ Now Jacob ^(BF)loved Rachel, so he said, “^(BG)I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days ^(BH)because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my ^[v]time is completed, that I may ^(BI)have relations with her.” ²² So Laban gathered all the people of the place and held a feast. ²³ Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and Jacob had relations with her. ²⁴ Laban also gave his female slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a slave. ²⁵ So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “^(BJ)What is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you ^(BK)deceived me?” ²⁶ But Laban said, “It is not ^[w]the practice in our place to ^[x]marry off the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which ^(BL)you shall serve with me, for another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave his female slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. ³⁰ So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed ^(BM)he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with ^[y]Laban for ^(BN)another seven years.

³¹ Now the Lord saw that Leah was ^[z]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children. ³² Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him ^[aa]Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has ^[ab](BO)seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “^(BP)Because the Lord has ^[ac]heard that I am ^[ad]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become ^[ae]attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^(BQ)Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will ^[af]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him ^[ag](BR)Judah. Then she stopped having children.

The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(BS)she had not borne Jacob any children, ^[ah]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(BT)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(BU)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “^(BV)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may ^(BW)give birth ^[ai]on my knees, so that ^[aj](BX)by her I too may obtain a child.” ⁴ So ^(BY)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[ak](BZ)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[al]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[am]mighty wrestling I have ^[an]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[ao]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[ap]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[aq]Happy am I! For women ^(CA)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[ar]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(CB)mandrake fruits 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 she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return 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 have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[as]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband ^[at]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(CC)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(CD)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has ^(CE)taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she named him Joseph, saying, “^(CF)May the Lord ^[au]give me another son.”