Old/New Testament
Jacob Loves Rachel
29 Then Jacob lifted up his feet and went to the land of the peoples of the east. 2 When he looked, suddenly, there was a well in the field, and there were three herds of sheep resting by it. (For from that well they would water the flocks. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the herds gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the flocks, and put the stone back to its place over the mouth of the well.)
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?”
“We’re from Haran,” they said.
5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s son?”
They said, “We know.”
6 He said to them, “Is he well?”
“Well,” they said. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock.”
7 He said, “Since it’s still the middle of the day, it’s not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the flock and let them go and graze.”
8 But they said, “We can’t, not until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well—then we water the flock.”
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the flock that belonged to her father (for she was a shepherdess). 10 Now when Jacob saw Rachel (the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother), Jacob stepped forward and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12 Then Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.
13 Now when Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, hugged and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are my own bone and flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you, my relative, serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should 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 delicate, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “Let me serve you for seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than I give her to another man! Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, yet in his eyes it was like a few days, because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are completed, so I may go to her.” 22 So Laban gathered all the men of the place and he prepared a feast. 23 When it was evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him, and he went to her. 24 Laban also gave her Zilpah his female servant to his daughter Leah as a female servant.
25 So when it was morning, behold there she was, Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you’ve done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked with you? So why have you deceived me?”
26 But Laban said, “It’s not done so in our place—to give the younger before the first-born. 27 Complete the bridal week for this one. Then we’ll also give you this other—for work that you’ll do with me—another seven years more.”
28 So Jacob did; he also completed this one’s bridal week. Then he gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban also gave his daughter Rachel his female servant Bilhah, to be a servant for her.
30 Jacob also went to Rachel and indeed loved Rachel more than Leah. So he served with him for yet another seven years.
Rivalry Continues With Wives
31 Now Adonai saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben because she said, “For Adonai has seen my affliction. Surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and said, “For Adonai heard that I am hated, so He’s given me this one also,” and she named him Simeon. 34 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will join himself to me because I’ve given birth to three sons for him.” For this reason he was named Levi. 35 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I praise Adonai.” For this reason she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
30 When Rachel saw that she bore no children for Jacob, Rachel was jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me sons—if there are none, I’ll die!”
2 But Jacob became furious with Rachel and said, “Am I, instead of God, the one who withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
3 So she said, “Here’s my maid-servant Bilhah. Go to her and let her give birth on my knees, so that from her I may also build a family.” 4 Then she gave her maid-servant Bilhah to him for a wife, and Jacob went to her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 So Rachel said, “God has judged my cause and also heard my voice—and given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. 7 Then Rachel’s female servant became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. 8 So Rachel said, “I’ve surely wrestled greatly with my sister—also I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9 Now Leah saw that she stopped having children, so she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, gave birth to a son for Jacob. 11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. 12 Then Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. 13 Leah said, “How happy am I, for daughters have called me happy.” So she named him Asher.
14 Now during the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”[a]
15 But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took my husband away? You’d also take away my son’s mandrakes?”
So Rachel said, “That being so, let him lie with you tonight, in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 So when Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and she said, “You must come to me. For I’ve actually hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that very night. 17 Moreover, God heard Leah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “God gave me my reward[b] because I gave my female servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Leah said, “God has presented me a good gift. This time my husband will honor me for I’ve borne six sons for him.” So she named him Zebulun. 21 Afterwards she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 Then she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. So she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph saying, “May Adonai add another son for me.”
Jacob Outwits Laban
25 Now it was after Rachel gave birth to Joseph that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away so that I can go to my place and to my land. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I’ve served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my labor—that I’ve served you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I’ve found favor in your eyes—I’ve looked for good omens, and Adonai has blessed me because of you.” 28 Moreover he said, “Name your own price and I’ll pay it.”
29 Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I’ve served you and how your livestock fared with me. 30 For you had very little before I came, and it has been busting at the seams in abundance. So Adonai blessed you with my every step. So now, when am I myself going to make something for my household also?”
31 Then he said, “What can I pay you?”
Jacob said, “You don’t need to pay me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will shepherd your flock again and watch it: 32 let me pass through your flock today, removing every colorfully spotted lamb from there and every dark-colored lamb among the sheep as well as the colorfully spotted among the goats—and that will be my salary. 33 So tomorrow my honesty will testify on my behalf when you come to check on my salary you agreed to. Every one that isn’t colorfully spotted among the goats or dark-colored among the sheep with me, it is stolen.”
34 So Laban said, “All right! May it be according to your word.” 35 On that day he removed the colorfully striped and colorful billy goats as well as all the colorfully spotted goats—everyone with white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he put them in the hand of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day’s journey between them and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding Laban’s remaining flocks.
37 But Jacob took fresh white poplar, almond, and plane tree branches, peeled away white stripped sections on them, exposing the white of the branches. 38 Then he set the branches he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs and watering channels where the flocks come to drink. Since they were in heat when they came to drink, 39 the flocks mated near the branches, and the flocks gave birth to striped, spotted and colorful ones. 40 Now Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped ones as well as all the dark-colored ones among Laban’s flocks. Then he set aside the herds for himself and did not put them with Laban’s flocks. 41 Whenever the strong flocks mated, Jacob put the branches in the watering troughs before the eyes of the flocks, to have them mate near the branches. 42 But when the flocks were sickly, he did not put the branches down—so the sickly ones became Laban’s and the stronger ones became Jacob’s. 43 And the man grew exceedingly prosperous and had numerous flocks, along with female and male servants, camels and donkeys.
Authority to Pardon Sins
9 After getting into a boat, Yeshua crossed over and came to His own town. 2 Just then, some people brought to Him a paralyzed man lying on a cot. And seeing their faith, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, “Take courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.”
3 Then some of the Torah scholars said among themselves, “This fellow blasphemes!”
4 And knowing their thoughts, Yeshua said, “Why are you entertaining evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins...” Then He tells the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your cot and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw it, they were afraid and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
A Physician for Sinners
9 As Yeshua was passing by from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he got up and followed Him.
10 Now it happened that when Yeshua was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Yeshua and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does this Teacher of yours eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when He heard this, Yeshua said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a doctor, but those who are sick do. 13 Now go and learn what this means: ‘Mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.’[a] For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinful.”
Teaching New Ways
14 Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”[b]
15 And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 “And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.