Jacob Meets Rachel at the Well
1Then Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2He looked, and there in the open country was a well, with three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for that well was used to water the flocks. A large stone covered the mouth of the well. 3When all the flocks had gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep, then put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. 4Jacob asked the men, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they answered. 5He said to them, “Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?” “We know him,” they said. 6“Is he well?” he asked. “He is well,” they said, “and look — here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 7He said, “Look, the sun is still high; it is not yet time to gather the flocks. Water the sheep and go on, let them graze.” 8But they said, “We cannot, not until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we water the sheep.” 9While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. 10When Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, he went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. 12He told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. 13As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all that had happened, 14and Laban said to him, “You are truly my own flesh and blood.” Jacob stayed with him for a month.
Jacob’s Marriages to Leah and Rachel
15Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” 16Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. 17Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will work seven years for you in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days, because of his love for her. 21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife — my time is complete — so that I may sleep with her.” 22So Laban gathered all the men of the place and held a feast. 23But that evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob slept with her. 24And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant. 25When morning came, there was Leah! Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” 26Laban said, “It is not the custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 27Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the other one too, in exchange for another seven years of work with me.” 28Jacob did so; he finished Leah’s bridal week, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. 29And Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. 30Jacob slept with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
The Birth of Leah’s Sons
31When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “Yahweh has seen my misery. Surely now my husband will love me.” 33She conceived again and bore a son, and she said, “Because Yahweh heard that I am unloved, he has given me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34Again she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “Now, at last, my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35She conceived once more and bore a son, and she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing children.
