Genesis 28:1-29:30

English Standard Version

Jacob Sent to Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob ^(A)and blessed him and directed him, ^(B)“You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. ^2 (C)Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of ^(D)Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. ^3 (E)God Almighty^[a] bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. ⁴ May he give ^(F)the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of ^(G)the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” ⁵ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

Esau Marries an Ishmaelite

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So when Esau saw ^(H)that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, ⁹ Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, ^(I)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of ^(J)Nebaioth.

Jacob's Dream

¹⁰ Jacob left ^(K)Beersheba and went toward ^(L)Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² And he ^(M)dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder^[b] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^(N)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! ¹³ And behold, ^(O)the Lord stood above it^[c] and said, ^(P)“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ^(Q)The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴ Your offspring shall be like ^(R)the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and ^(S)your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(T)I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and ^(U)will bring you back to this land. For I will ^(V)not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is ^(W)in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up ^(X)for a pillar ^(Y)and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place ^(Z)Bethel,^[d] but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰ Then Jacob ^(AA)made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ^21 (AB)so that I come again to my father's house in peace, ^(AC)then the Lord shall be my God, ²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, ^(AD)shall be God's house. And ^(AE)of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to ^(AF)the land of the people of the east. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, ^(AG)“We are from Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, ^(AH)Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(AI)her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son, ^(AJ)and she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, ^(AK)he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴ and Laban said to him, ^(AL)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall 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,^[e] but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, ^(AM)“I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(AN)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and ^(AO)made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave^{[f] (AP)}his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (AQ)Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave ^(AR)his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban ^(AS)for another seven years.