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Genesis 27-29
Common English Bible
Genesis 27-29
Common English Bible
Jacob acquires his father’s blessing
27 When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”
And Esau said, “I’m here.”
2 He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. 3 So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. 4 Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”
5 Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. 9 Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. 10 You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”
13 His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. 15 Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, 17 and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.
18 Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”
20 Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”
He said, “The Lord your God led me right to it.”[a]
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” 22 So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” 23 Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.
24 Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he said, “I am.”
25 Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. 26 His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,
“See, the scent of my son
is like the scent of the field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you
showers from the sky,
olive oil from the earth,
plenty of grain and new wine.
29 May the nations serve you,
may peoples bow down to you.
Be the most powerful man among your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.”
Esau receives a secondary blessing
30 After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. 31 He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”
32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”
33 Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”
34 When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”
35 Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me[b] twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37 Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.
39 His father Isaac responded and said to him,
“Now, you will make a home
far away from the olive groves of the earth,
far away from the showers of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword;
you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,[c]
you will tear away his harness
from your neck.”
Jacob sent away for protection
41 Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.
42 Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, 45 until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”
46 Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”
28 So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and gave him these orders: “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Get up and go to Paddan-aram, to the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and once there, marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 God Almighty[d] will bless you, make you fertile, and give you many descendants so that you will become a large group of peoples. 4 He will give you and your descendants Abraham’s blessing so that you will own the land in which you are now immigrants, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 So Isaac sent Jacob off, and he traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.
6 Esau understood that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to marry a woman from there. He recognized that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he had ordered him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had listened to his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 Esau realized that his father Isaac considered Canaanite women unacceptable. 9 So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.
Jacob’s dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. 12 He dreamed and saw a raised staircase, its foundation on earth and its top touching the sky, and God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it. 13 Suddenly the Lord was standing on it[e] and saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. 15 I am with you now, I will protect you everywhere you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. 17 He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven. 18 After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He named that sacred place Bethel,[f] though Luz was the city’s original name. 20 Jacob made a solemn promise: “If God is with me and protects me on this trip I’m taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone that I’ve set up as a sacred pillar will be God’s house, and of everything you give me I will give a tenth back to you.”
Jacob meets Rachel
29 Jacob got to his feet and set out for the land of the easterners. 2 He saw a well in the field in front of him, near which three flocks of sheep were lying down. That well was their source for water because the flocks drank from that well. A huge stone covered the well’s opening. 3 When all of the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the well’s opening, water the sheep, and return the stone to its place at the well’s opening. 4 Jacob said to them, “Where are you from, my brothers?”
They said, “We’re from Haran.”
5 Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”
They said, “We know him.”
6 He said to them, “Is he well?”
They said, “He’s fine. In fact, this is his daughter Rachel now, coming with the flock.”
7 He said to them, “It’s now only the middle of the day. It’s not time yet to gather the animals. Water the flock, and then go, put them out to pasture.”
8 They said to him, “We can’t until all the herds are gathered, and then we[g] roll the stone away from the well’s opening and water the flock.”
9 While he was still talking to them, Rachel came with her father’s flock since she was its shepherd. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his uncle, and the flock of Laban, Jacob came up, rolled the stone from the well’s opening, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. 11 Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was related to her father and that he was Rebekah’s son. She then ran to tell her father. 13 When Laban heard about Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him. Laban embraced him, kissed him, and invited him into his house, where Jacob recounted to Laban everything that had happened. 14 Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my flesh and blood.”
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with Laban for a month, 15 Laban said to Jacob, “You shouldn’t have to work for free just because you are my relative. Tell me what you would like to be paid.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah and the younger Rachel. 17 Leah had delicate eyes,[h] but Rachel had a beautiful figure and was good-looking. 18 Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will work for you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
19 Laban said, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me.”
20 Jacob worked for Rachel for seven years, but it seemed like a few days because he loved her. 21 Jacob said to Laban, “The time has come. Give me my wife so that I may sleep with her.” 22 So Laban invited all the people of that place and prepared a banquet. 23 However, in the evening, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 Laban had given his servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her servant. 25 In the morning, there she was—Leah! Jacob said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Didn’t I work for you to have Rachel? Why did you betray me?”
26 Laban said, “Where we live, we don’t give the younger woman before the oldest. 27 Complete the celebratory week with this woman. Then I will give[i] you this other woman too for your work, if you work for me seven more years.” 28 So that is what Jacob did. He completed the celebratory week with this woman, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 Laban had given his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her servant. 30 Jacob slept with Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He worked for Laban seven more years.
Jacob’s sons are born
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to have children. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben[j] because she said, “The Lord saw my harsh treatment, and now my husband will love me.” 33 She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved, so he gave me this son too,” and she named him Simeon.[k] 34 She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “Now, this time my husband will embrace me,[l] since I have given birth to three sons for him.” So she named him Levi.[m] 35 She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.[n] Then she stopped bearing children.
Footnotes
- Genesis 27:20 Or made something good happen for me
- Genesis 27:36 Heb ya’acob, a wordplay on Jacob
- Genesis 27:40 Heb uncertain
- Genesis 28:3 Heb El Shaddai or God of the Mountain
- Genesis 28:13 Or beside it or beside him
- Genesis 28:19 Or God’s house
- Genesis 29:8 Or they
- Genesis 29:17 Heb uncertain; perhaps Leah had poor eyesight
- Genesis 29:27 LXX, Sam, Syr, Tg, Vulg; MT we will give
- Genesis 29:32 Or see, a son
- Genesis 29:33 Sounds like the Heb verb hear
- Genesis 29:34 Or be connected to me
- Genesis 29:34 Sounds like the Heb verb embrace, or connect
- Genesis 29:35 Sounds like the Heb verb praise
Genesis 27-29
New International Version
Genesis 27-29
New International Version
27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,(A) he called for Esau his older son(B) and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.(C) 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country(D) to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like(E) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing(F) before I die.”(G)
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country(H) to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob,(I) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’(J) 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:(K) 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,(L) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.(M) 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing(N) before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man(O) while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me?(P) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse(Q) on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.(R) Just do what I say;(S) go and get them for me.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.(T) 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes(U) of Esau her older son,(V) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.(W) 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”(X)
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.(Y) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,(Z) so that you may give me your blessing.”(AA)
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success,(AB)” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,(AC) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac,(AD) who touched(AE) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;(AF) so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”(AG)
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed(AH) him(AI). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,(AJ) he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.(AK)
28 May God give you heaven’s dew(AL)
and earth’s richness(AM)—
an abundance of grain(AN) and new wine.(AO)
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.(AP)
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(AQ)
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.(AR)”
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”(AS)
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”(AT)
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.(AU)”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?(AV) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!(AW)”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry(AX) and said to his father, “Bless(AY) me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully(AZ) and took your blessing.”(BA)
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]?(BB) This is the second time he has taken advantage of(BC) me: He took my birthright,(BD) and now he’s taken my blessing!”(BE) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.(BF) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.(BG)
39 His father Isaac answered him,(BH)
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew(BI) of heaven above.(BJ)
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve(BK) your brother.(BL)
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.(BM)”
41 Esau held a grudge(BN) against Jacob(BO) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning(BP) for my father are near; then I will kill(BQ) my brother Jacob.”(BR)
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau(BS) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.(BT) 43 Now then, my son, do what I say:(BU) Flee at once to my brother Laban(BV) in Harran.(BW) 44 Stay with him for a while(BX) until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,(BY) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.(BZ) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite(CA) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,(CB) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”(CC)
28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed(CD) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.(CE) 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,[b](CF) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.(CG) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.(CH) 3 May God Almighty[c](CI) bless(CJ) you and make you fruitful(CK) and increase your numbers(CL) until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,(CM) so that you may take possession of the land(CN) where you now reside as a foreigner,(CO) the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,(CP) and he went to Paddan Aram,(CQ) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,(CR) the brother of Rebekah,(CS) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”(CT) 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women(CU) were to his father Isaac;(CV) 9 so he went to Ishmael(CW) and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth(CX) and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.(CY)
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba(CZ) and set out for Harran.(DA) 11 When he reached a certain place,(DB) he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head(DC) and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream(DD) in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.(DE) 13 There above it[d] stood the Lord,(DF) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.(DG) I will give you and your descendants the land(DH) on which you are lying.(DI) 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you(DJ) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.(DK) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[e](DL) 15 I am with you(DM) and will watch over you(DN) wherever you go,(DO) and I will bring you back to this land.(DP) I will not leave you(DQ) until I have done what I have promised you.(DR)”(DS)
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep,(DT) he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!(DU) This is none other than the house of God;(DV) this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head(DW) and set it up as a pillar(DX) and poured oil on top of it.(DY) 19 He called that place Bethel,[f](DZ) though the city used to be called Luz.(EA)
20 Then Jacob made a vow,(EB) saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me(EC) on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear(ED) 21 so that I return safely(EE) to my father’s household,(EF) then the Lord[g] will be my God(EG) 22 and[h] this stone that I have set up as a pillar(EH) will be God’s house,(EI) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.(EJ)”
Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram
29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.(EK) 2 There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.(EL) The stone(EM) over the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone(EN) away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep.(EO) Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”(EP)
“We’re from Harran,(EQ)” they replied.
5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”(ER)
“Yes, we know him,” they answered.
6 Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”
“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel(ES) with the sheep.(ET)”
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”
8 “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone(EU) has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water(EV) the sheep.”
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep,(EW) for she was a shepherd. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel(EX) daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone(EY) away from the mouth of the well and watered(EZ) his uncle’s sheep.(FA) 11 Then Jacob kissed(FB) Rachel and began to weep aloud.(FC) 12 He had told Rachel that he was a relative(FD) of her father and a son of Rebekah.(FE) So she ran and told her father.(FF)
13 As soon as Laban(FG) heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him(FH) and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. 14 Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”(FI)
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative(FJ) of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages(FK) should be.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah,(FL) and the name of the younger was Rachel.(FM) 17 Leah had weak[i] eyes, but Rachel(FN) had a lovely figure and was beautiful.(FO) 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel(FP) and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”(FQ)
19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel,(FR) but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.(FS)
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.(FT)”
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast.(FU) 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah(FV) and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24 And Laban gave his servant Zilpah(FW) to his daughter as her attendant.(FX)
25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me?(FY) I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?(FZ)”
26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.(GA) 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week;(GB) then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.(GC)”
28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.(GD) 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah(GE) to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.(GF) 30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah.(GG) And he worked for Laban another seven years.(GH)
Jacob’s Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,(GI) he enabled her to conceive,(GJ) but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.(GK) She named him Reuben,[j](GL) for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.(GM) Surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,(GN) he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[k](GO)
34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,(GP) because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.[l](GQ)
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.[m](GR) Then she stopped having children.(GS)
Footnotes
- Genesis 27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
- Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
- Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
- Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 28:19 Bethel means house of God.
- Genesis 28:21 Or Since God … father’s household, the Lord
- Genesis 28:22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then
- Genesis 29:17 Or delicate
- Genesis 29:32 Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son.
- Genesis 29:33 Simeon probably means one who hears.
- Genesis 29:34 Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached.
- Genesis 29:35 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.