Genesis 29
29
Chapter 29
Jacob works for his uncle Laban
1Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the people from the east live. 2He saw a well in a field. Three groups of sheep lay near it. Shepherds were taking water from the well to give to their sheep. There was a large stone that covered the top of the well. 3The shepherds waited until all the sheep were there together. Then they removed the stone from the top of the well. They gave their sheep water to drink, and then they put the stone back on the top of the well.
4Jacob asked the shepherds, ‘My brothers, where is your home?’
The shepherds replied, ‘We are from Haran.’
5Jacob said, ‘Do you know Laban? He is Nahor's grandson.’
The shepherds replied, ‘Yes, we know him.’
6Jacob asked them, ‘Is he in good health?’
They replied, ‘Yes, he is. Look. Here comes his daughter now, with her father's sheep. Her name is Rachel.’
7Jacob said to them, ‘The sun is still high in the sky. It is not yet the right time to bring all the sheep together. So give them some water now. Then they can go back to the fields and eat more grass.’
8The shepherds said, ‘We cannot do that. We have to wait until all the sheep are here together. Then we can remove the big stone from the well and we can give water to the sheep.’
9While Jacob was speaking to the shepherds, Rachel arrived there. She brought her father's sheep with her. She was the one who took care of them. 10Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban. He saw that she had Laban's sheep with her. So Jacob went to the well and he removed the big stone. He gave water to Laban's sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and he began to weep aloud. 12Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, Laban. He told her that he was Rebekah's son. So Rachel ran to tell her father.
13When Laban had heard what Rachel said, he went quickly to meet Jacob, his sister's son. He put his arms round Jacob and he kissed him. Laban brought Jacob to his home. Jacob told Laban all his news. 14Then Laban said, ‘Yes, you really are my own relative.’ So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.
15Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘You should not work for me for nothing because you are my relative. Tell me what I should pay you.’
16Laban had two daughters. The name of the older daughter was Leah. The name of the younger daughter was Rachel. 17Leah had weak eyes. But Rachel was very beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel. He said to Laban, ‘I will work for you for seven years. In return, I want to marry your younger daughter, Rachel.’
19Laban said, ‘It is better for me to give her to you as your wife than to give her to another man. Stay here with me.’
20Jacob worked for seven years to have Rachel as his wife. But the years passed very quickly because Jacob loved Rachel very much. Seven years seemed like only a few days to Jacob.
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
21So finally, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time to work for you has finished and I want to marry her.’
22Laban called all the people in that place to come together. He prepared a big meal for them to eat. 23When evening came, Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob slept that night with her as his wife. 24Laban gave his female servant to Leah to be her servant. Her name was Zilpah.
25When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to have Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’
26Laban replied, ‘In our land, we do not give the younger daughter to a man first. We let the older daughter marry first. 27So finish this week of Leah's marriage. Then we will give you Rachel to marry too. But you must work for another seven years.’ #29:27 A marriage week was the seven days of the feast. Jacob had to sleep with his new wife Leah until the end of the week.
28So Jacob did what Laban said. He finished the marriage week with Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. 29Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to Rachel to become her servant. 30Jacob also slept with Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. He worked for Laban for seven more years.
Leah gives birth to four sons for Jacob
31The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. 32So Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. #29:32 The name ‘Reuben’ means ‘Look, a son!’ in Hebrew. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’
33Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son. He knows that my husband does not love me.’ She called this son Simeon. #29:33 The name ‘Simeon’ sounds like ‘Someone who hears’ in Hebrew.
34Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay near to me.’ She called this son Levi. #29:34 The name ‘Levi’ sounds like ‘Hold near’ in Hebrew.
35Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. #29:35 The name ‘Judah’ sounds like ‘Praise’ in Hebrew. Then she stopped giving birth to children.
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Genesis 29: EASY
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