Genèse 29

¹Jacob went on his way and came to the land of the eastern peoples. ²There he saw a well out in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. A big stone covered the opening of the well. ³The custom was that when all the flocks had gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone off the well’s opening and water the sheep, and then put the stone back in place over the opening. ⁴“Friends, where are you from?” Jacob asked them. “From Haran,” they answered. ⁵“Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” he asked. “Yes, we know him,” they said. ⁶“Is he well?” he asked. “He is,” they replied, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep now.” ⁷“But it is the middle of the day,” Jacob said, “far too early to bring the animals in. Why not water the sheep and take them back to graze?” ⁸“We are not allowed to,” they answered, “until all the flocks have come in and the stone has been rolled off the well. Then we can water the sheep.” ⁹He was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, since she was the one who looked after them. ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he stepped forward, rolled the stone off the well’s opening by himself, and watered his uncle’s flock. ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and broke into loud weeping. ¹²He explained to Rachel that he was a relative of her father, Rebekah’s son, and she ran off to tell her father. ¹³As soon as Laban heard about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran out to meet him, hugged and kissed him, and took him home. Jacob told Laban everything that had happened. ¹⁴“You really are my own bone and flesh!” Laban said to him. Jacob stayed on with him for a whole month. ¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “You are my relative, but that is no reason for you to work for me without pay. Tell me what you want to be paid.” ¹⁶Laban had two daughters. The elder was called Leah, and the younger Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was shapely and lovely to look at.^{a 18}Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, so he said, “I will work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹“Better that she should go to you than to some other man,” Laban answered. “Stay here with me.” ²⁰So Jacob worked seven years to win Rachel, and because he loved her so much, the years went by for him as if they were only a few days. ²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “My time is up. Give me my wife, so that I may sleep with her.” ²²So Laban invited all the people of the place and gave a wedding feast. ²³But when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob slept with her. ²⁴(Laban had given his slave woman Zilpah to his daughter Leah, to be her slave.) ²⁵In the light of morning Jacob saw that it was Leah. “What have you done to me?” he said to Laban. “It was Rachel I worked for! Why have you tricked me?” ²⁶“It is not our custom here,” Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. ²⁷Finish out this one’s wedding week, and then we will give you the other one too, in return for another seven years of work for me.” ²⁸Jacob agreed, and when Leah’s week was over, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹(Laban gave his slave woman Bilhah to his daughter Rachel, to be her slave.) ³⁰Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban seven more years. ³¹When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he let her conceive, while Rachel remained childless. ³²Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, saying, “The LORD has seen how I suffer. Surely now my husband will love me.” ³³She conceived again and had another son. “The LORD has heard that I am unloved,” she said, “and so he has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴Once more she conceived and had a son. “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,” she said, “because I have given him three sons.” That is why he was named Levi.^{b 35}She conceived yet again and gave birth to a son. “Now I will give thanks to the LORD,” she said, and so she named him Judah. Then for a time she had no more children.