Genesis:29-30
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Then Jacob went on his journey ,
and came to the land of the sons of the east .
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And he looked ,
and ,
behold ,
a well in the field .
And ,
lo ,
three flocks of sheep were laying there by it ,
for they watered the flocks out of that well .
And the stone upon the well '
s mouth was great .
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And all the flocks were gathered there .
And they rolled the stone from the well '
s mouth ,
and watered the sheep ,
and put the stone again upon the well '
s mouth in its place .
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And Jacob said to them ,
My brothers ,
where are ye from ?
And they said ,
We are of Haran .
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And he said to them ,
Do ye know Laban the son of Nahor ?
And they said ,
We know him .
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And he said to them ,
Is it well with him ?
And they said ,
It is well .
And ,
behold ,
Rachel his daughter comes with the sheep .
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And he said ,
Lo ,
it is yet high day ,
neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together .
Water ye the sheep ,
and go and feed them .
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And they said ,
We cannot until all the flocks be gathered together ,
and they roll the stone from the well '
s mouth .
Then we water the sheep .
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While he was yet speaking with them ,
Rachel came with her father '
s sheep ,
for she kept them .
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And it came to pass ,
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 hi
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And Jacob kissed Rachel ,
and lifted up his voice ,
and wept .
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And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father '
s brother ,
and that he was Rebekah '
s son .
And she ran and told her father .
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And it came to pass ,
when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister '
s son ,
that he ran to meet him ,
and embraced him ,
and kissed him ,
and brought him to his house .
And he told Laban all these things .
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And Laban said to him ,
Surely thou are my bone and my flesh .
And he abode with him the space of a month .
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And Laban said to Jacob ,
Because thou are my brother ,
should thou therefore serve me for nothing ?
Tell me ,
what shall thy wages be ?
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And Laban had two daughters .
The name of the elder was Leah ,
and the name of the younger was Rachel .
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And Leah '
s eyes were weak ,
but Rachel was beautiful and well favored .
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And Jacob loved Rachel ,
and he said ,
I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter .
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And Laban said ,
It is better that I give her to thee ,
than that I should give her to another man .
Abide with me .
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And Jacob served seven years for Rachel .
And they seemed to him but a few days ,
for the love he had for her .
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And Jacob said to Laban ,
Give me my wife ,
for my days are fulfilled ,
that I may go in to her .
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And Laban gathered together all the men of the place ,
and made a feast .
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And it came to pass in the evening ,
that he took Leah his daughter ,
and brought her to him .
And he went in to her .
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And Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid .
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And it came to pass in the morning that ,
behold ,
it was Leah .
And he said to Laban ,
What is this thou have done to me ?
Did I not serve with thee for Rachel ?
Why then have thou beguiled me ?
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And Laban said ,
It is not so done in our place ,
to give the younger before the firstborn .
*
Fulfill the week of this one ,
and we will give thee the other also for the service which thou shall serve with me yet seven other years .
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And Jacob did so ,
and fulfilled her week .
And he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife .
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And Laban gave to Rachel ,
his daughter ,
Bilhah his handmaid to be her handmaid .
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And he also went in to Rachel ,
and also he loved Rachel more than Leah ,
and served with him yet seven other years .
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And LORD saw that Leah was regarded inferior ,
and he opened her womb ,
but Rachel was barren .
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And Leah conceived ,
and bore a son ,
and she called his name Reuben .
For she said ,
Because LORD has looked upon my affliction ,
for now my husband will love me .
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And she conceived again ,
and bore a son ,
and said ,
Because LORD has heard that I am regarded inferior ,
he has therefore given me this [
son ]
also .
And she called his name Simeon .
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And she conceived again ,
and bore a son ,
and said ,
Now this time my husband will be joined to me ,
because I have borne him three sons .
Therefore his name was called Levi .
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And she conceived again ,
and bore a son .
And she said ,
This time I will praise LORD .
Therefore she called his name Judah .
And she left off bearing .
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And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no sons ,
Rachel envied her sister ,
and she said to Jacob ,
Give me sons ,
or else I die .
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And Jacob '
s anger was kindled against Rachel ,
and he said ,
Am I in God '
s stead ,
who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb ?
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And she said ,
Behold ,
my maid Bilhah ,
go in to her ,
that she may bear upon my knees ,
and I also may obtain sons by her .
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And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife ,
and Jacob went in to her .
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And Bilhah conceived ,
and bore Jacob a son .
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And Rachel said ,
God has judged me ,
and has also heard my voice ,
and has given me a son .
Therefore she called his name Daniel .
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And Bilhah Rachel '
s handmaid conceived again ,
and bore Jacob a second son .
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And Rachel said ,
With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister ,
and have prevailed .
And she called his name Naphtali .
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When Leah saw that she had left off bearing ,
she took Zilpah her handmaid ,
and gave her to Jacob to wife .
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And Zilpah Leah '
s handmaid bore Jacob a son .
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And Leah said ,
Fortunate !
And she called his name Gad .
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And Zilpah Leah '
s handmaid bore Jacob a second son .
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And Leah said ,
Happy am I !
For the daughters will call me happy .
And she called his name Asher .
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And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest ,
and found mandrakes in the field ,
and brought them to his mother Leah .
Then Rachel said to Leah ,
Give me ,
I pray thee ,
of thy son '
s mandrakes .
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And she said to her ,
Is it a small matter that thou have taken away my husband ?
And would thou take away my son '
s mandrakes also ?
And Rachel said ,
Therefore he shall lay with thee tonight for thy son '
s mandrakes .
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And Jacob came from the field in the evening ,
and Leah went out to meet him ,
and said ,
Thou must come in to me ,
for I have surely hired thee with my son '
s mandrakes .
And he lay with her that night .
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And God hearkened to Leah ,
and she conceived ,
and bore Jacob a fifth son .
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And Leah said ,
God has given me my hire ,
because I gave my handmaid to my husband .
And she called his name Issachar .
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And Leah conceived again ,
and bore a sixth son to Jacob .
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And Leah said ,
God has endowed me with a good dowry .
Now my husband will dwell with me ,
because I have borne him six sons .
And she called his name Zebulun .
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And afterwards she bore a daughter ,
and called her name Dinah .
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And God remembered Rachel .
And God hearkened to her ,
and opened her womb .
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And she conceived ,
and bore a son ,
and said ,
God has taken away my reproach .
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And she called his name Joseph ,
saying ,
LORD adds another son to me .
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And it came to pass ,
when Rachel had borne Joseph ,
that Jacob said to Laban ,
Send me away ,
that I may go to my own place ,
and to my country .
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Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee ,
and let me go ,
for thou know my service with which I have served thee .
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And Laban said to him ,
If now I have found favor in thine eyes , [
tarry ,
for ]
I have learned by experience that LORD has blessed me for thy sake .
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And he said ,
Appoint for me thy wages ,
and I will give it .
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And he said to him ,
Thou know how I have served thee ,
and how thy cattle have fared with me .
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For it was little which thou had before I came ,
and it has increased to a multitude ,
and LORD has blessed thee wherever I turned .
And now when shall I provide for my own house also ?
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And he said ,
What shall I give thee ?
And Jacob said ,
Thou shall not give me anything .
If thou will do this thing for me ,
I will again feed thy flock and keep it .
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I will pass through all thy flock today ,
removing from there every speckled and spotted one ,
and every black one among the sheep ,
and the spotted and speckled among the goats ,
and [
of such ]
shall be my hire .
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So shall my righteousness answer for me after this ,
when thou shall come concerning my hire that is before thee .
Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats ,
and black among the sheep ,
that [
is ]
with me ,
shall be con
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And Laban said ,
Behold ,
O that it might be according to thy word .
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And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstreaked and spotted ,
and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted ,
every one that had white in it ,
and all the black ones among the sheep ,
and gave them into the hand of h
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And he set three days '
journey between himself and Jacob .
And Jacob fed the rest of Laban '
s flocks .
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And Jacob took for him rods of fresh poplar ,
and of the almond and of the plane tree ,
and peeled white streaks in them ,
and made the white which was in the rods appear .
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And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink .
And they conceived when they came to drink .
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And the flocks conceived before the rods ,
and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked ,
speckled ,
and spotted .
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And Jacob separated the lambs ,
and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked and all the black in the flock of Laban .
And he put his own herds apart ,
and did not put them near Laban '
s flock .
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And it came to pass ,
whenever the stronger of the flock conceived ,
that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters ,
that they might conceive among the rods ,
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but when the flock were weak ,
he did not put them in .
So the weaker were Laban '
s ,
and the stronger Jacob '
s .
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And the man increased exceedingly ,
and had large flocks ,
and maid-servants and men-servants ,
and camels and donkeys .
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And he heard the words of Laban '
s sons ,
saying ,
Jacob has taken away all that was our father '
s ,
and he has gotten all this glory of that which was our father '
s .