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 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;

² to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

³ What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

⁴ They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

⁵ Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!

⁶ I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me will I give him a command to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

⁷ However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.

⁸ For he says, "Aren't all of my princes kings?

⁹ Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus?"

¹⁰ As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

¹¹ shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

¹² Therefore it will happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his haughty looks.

¹³ For he has said, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers.

¹⁴ My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, have I gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped."

¹⁵ Should an axe brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.

¹⁷ The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in One day.

¹⁸ He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.

¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number.

²⁰ It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

²¹ A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

²² For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

²³ For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will make a full end, and that determined, in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, says "My people who dwell in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did.

²⁵ For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and my anger will be directed to his destruction."

²⁶ Yahweh of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. His rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up like he did against Egypt.

²⁷ It will happen in that day, that his burden will depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

²⁸ He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage.

²⁹ They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.

³⁰ Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!

³¹ Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

³² This very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.

³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.