¹ And Jacob lifteth up his feet, and goeth towards the land of the sons of the east;

² and he looketh, and lo, a well in the field, and lo, there three droves of a flock crouching by it, for from that well they water the droves, and the great stone [is] on the mouth of the well.

³ (When thither have all the droves been gathered, and they have rolled the stone from off the mouth of the well, and have watered the flock, then they have turned back the stone on the mouth of the well to its place.)

⁴ And Jacob saith to them, `My brethren, from whence [are] ye?' and they say, `We [are] from Haran.'

⁵ And he saith to them, `Have ye known Laban, son of Nahor?' and they say, `We have known.'

⁶ And he saith to them, `Hath he peace?' and they say, `Peace; and lo, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock.'

⁷ And he saith, `Lo, the day [is] still great, [it is] not time for the cattle to be gathered; water ye the flock, and go, delight yourselves.'

⁸ And they say, `We are not able, till that all the droves be gathered together, and they have rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and we have watered the flock.'

⁹ He is yet speaking with them, and Rachel hath come with the flock which her father hath, for she [is] shepherdess;

¹⁰ and it cometh to pass when Jacob hath seen Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the flock of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob cometh nigh and rolleth the stone from off the mouth of the well, and watereth the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

¹¹ And Jacob kisseth Rachel, and lifteth up his voice, and weepeth,

¹² and Jacob declareth to Rachel that he [is] her father's brother, and that he [is] Rebekah's son, and she runneth and declareth to her father.

¹³ And it cometh to pass, when Laban heareth the report of Jacob his sister's son, that he runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and kisseth him, and bringeth him in unto his house; and he recounteth to Laban all these things,

¹⁴ and Laban saith to him, `Only my bone and my flesh [art] thou;' and he dwelleth with him a month of days.

¹⁵ And Laban saith to Jacob, `Is it because thou [art] my brother that thou hast served me for nought? declare to me what [is] thy hire.'

¹⁶ And Laban hath two daughters, the name of the elder [is] Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel,

¹⁷ and the eyes of Leah [are] tender, and Rachel hath been fair of form and fair of appearance.

¹⁸ And Jacob loveth Rachel, and saith, `I serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter:'

¹⁹ and Laban saith, `It is better for me to give her to thee than to give her to another man; dwell with me;'

²⁰ and Jacob serveth for Rachel seven years; and they are in his eyes as some days, because of his loving her.

²¹ And Jacob saith unto Laban, `Give up my wife, for my days have been fulfilled, and I go in unto her;'

²² and Laban gathereth all the men of the place, and maketh a banquet.

²³ And it cometh to pass in the evening, that he taketh Leah, his daughter, and bringeth her in unto him, and he goeth in unto her;

²⁴ and Laban giveth to her Zilpah, his maid-servant, to Leah his daughter, a maid-servant.

²⁵ And it cometh to pass in the morning, that lo, it [is] Leah; and he saith unto Laban, `What [is] this thou hast done to me? for Rachel have I not served with thee? and why hast thou deceived me?'

²⁶ And Laban saith, `It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the first-born;

²⁷ fulfil the week of this one, and we give to thee also this one, for the service which thou dost serve with me yet seven other years.'

²⁸ And Jacob doth so, and fulfilleth the week of this one, and he giveth to him Rachel his daughter, to him for a wife;

²⁹ and Laban giveth to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his maid-servant, for a maid-servant to her.

³⁰ And he goeth in also unto Rachel, and he also loveth Rachel more than Leah; and he serveth with him yet seven other years.

³¹ And Jehovah seeth that Leah [is] the hated one, and He openeth her womb, and Rachel [is] barren;

³² and Leah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Reuben, for she said, `Because Jehovah hath looked on mine affliction; because now doth my husband love me.'

³³ And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, `Because Jehovah hath heard that I [am] the hated one, He also giveth to me even this [one];' and she calleth his name Simeon.

³⁴ And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, `Now [is] the time, my husband is joined unto me, because I have born to him three sons,' therefore hath [one] called his name Levi.

³⁵ And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith this time, `I praise Jehovah;' therefore hath she called his name Judah; and she ceaseth from bearing.

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.

² He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well's mouth was large.

³ There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well's mouth in its place.

⁴ Jacob said to them, "My relatives, where are you from?" They said, "We are from Haran."

⁵ He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?" They said, "We know him."

⁶ He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep."

⁷ He said, "Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them."

⁸ They said, "We can't, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep."

⁹ While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them.

¹⁰ It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

¹¹ Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father.

¹³ It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." He lived with him for a month.

¹⁵ Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"

¹⁶ Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷ Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive.

¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. He said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

¹⁹ Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me."

²⁰ Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

²¹ Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."

²² Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

²³ It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her.

²⁴ Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid.

²⁵ It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"

²⁶ Laban said, "It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years."

²⁸ Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife.

²⁹ Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid.

³⁰ He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹ Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

³² Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me."

³³ She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, "Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also." She named him Simeon.

³⁴ She conceived again, and bore a son. Said, "Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore was his name called Levi.

³⁵ She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, "This time will I praise Yahweh." Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.