CHAPTER 29
He looked
and saw
a well
in the field,
and
there
by it
lay
three
flocks
of sheep,
because
the sheep
were watered
from
this
well.
And a large
stone
covered
the mouth
of the well.
When all
the flocks
had been gathered
there,
the shepherds would roll away
the stone
from
the mouth
of the well
and water
the sheep.
Then they would return
the stone
to its place
over
the mouth
of the well.
“My brothers,”
Jacob
asked
the shepherds,
“where
are you from?”
“We are
from Haran,”
they answered.
“Is he well?”
Jacob inquired.
“Yes,”
they answered,
“and here
comes
his daughter
Rachel
with
his sheep.”
“Look,”
said Jacob,
“it is still
broad
daylight;
it is not yet
time
to gather
the livestock.
Water
the sheep
and take them back
to pasture.”
But they replied,
“We cannot,
until
all
the flocks
have been gathered
and the stone
has been rolled
away from
the mouth
of the well.
Then we will water
the sheep.”
While
he was still speaking
with them,
Rachel
arrived
with
her father’s
sheep,
for
she
was a shepherdess.
As soon as
Jacob
saw
Rachel,
the daughter
of his mother’s
brother
Laban,
with Laban’s
sheep,
he
went up
and rolled
the stone
away from
the mouth
of the well
and watered
his uncle’s
sheep.
He
told
Rachel
that
he was
Rebekah’s
son,
a relative
of her father,
and she ran
and told
her father.
When Laban
heard
the news
about his sister’s
son
Jacob,
he ran out
to meet him,
and he embraced
him
and kissed him.
Then he took
him to
his home,
and Jacob told
him
all
that had happened.
Then Laban
declared,
“You are
indeed
my own flesh
and blood.”
After Jacob had stayed
with
him a month,
Laban
said
to him,
“Just because
you are
my relative,
should you work
for nothing?
Tell
me
what
your wages should be.”
Since Jacob
loved
Rachel,
he answered,
“I will serve
you seven
years
for your younger
daughter
Rachel.”
So Jacob
served
seven
years
for Rachel,
yet it seemed
but a few
days
because of his love
for her.
Finally Jacob
said
to
Laban,
“Grant
me my wife,
for
my time
is complete,
and I want to sleep with
her.”
But when
evening came,
Laban took
his daughter
Leah
and gave
her to Jacob,
and he slept with
her.
When morning
came,
there
was Leah!
“What
have you done
to me?”
Jacob said
to
Laban.
“Wasn’t
it for Rachel
that I served
you?
Why
have you deceived me?”
Laban
replied,
“It is not
our custom
here
to give the younger daughter
in marriage
before
the older.
Finish
this
week’s celebration,
and we will give
you
the younger one
in return for
another
seven
years
of work.”
And Jacob
did
just that.
He finished
the week’s celebration,
and Laban gave
him
his daughter
Rachel
as his wife.
Jacob slept with
Rachel
as well,
and indeed,
he loved
Rachel
more than Leah.
So he worked
for
Laban
another
seven
years.
And Leah
conceived
and gave birth to
a son,
and she named
him Reuben,
for
she said,
“The LORD
has seen
my affliction.
Surely
my husband
will love
me now.”
Again
she conceived
and gave birth to
a son,
and she said,
“Because the LORD
has heard
that
I
am unloved,
He has given
me
this son
as well.”
So she named
him Simeon.
Once again
Leah conceived
and gave birth to
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.
And once more,
she conceived
and gave birth to
a son
and said,
“This time
I will praise
the LORD.”
So
she named
him Judah.
Then Leah stopped
having children.