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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Genesis 29 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/29.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/genesis/29-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Genesis 29</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/28.htm" title="Genesis 28">◄</a> Genesis 29 <a href="../genesis/30.htm" title="Genesis 30">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/genesis/29.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Jacob Arrives at Paddan-Aram</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?”</p><p class="reg">“We are from Haran,” they answered.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked.</p><p class="reg">“Yes, we do,” they replied.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>“Is he doing well?” Jacob asked.</p><p class="reg">“Yes, he’s well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Jacob said, “Look, it’s still broad daylight—too early to round up the animals. Why don’t you water the sheep and goats so they can get back out to pasture?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“We can’t water the animals until all the flocks have arrived,” they replied. “Then the shepherds move the stone from the mouth of the well, and we water all the sheep and goats.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherd. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>And because Rachel was his cousin—the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother—and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Laban, Jacob went over to the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle’s flock. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>As soon as Laban heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him and brought him home. When Jacob had told him his story, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!”</p><p class="hdg">Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel</p><p class="reg">After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>(Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>“It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>(Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.</p><p class="hdg">Jacob’s Many Children</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> for she said, “The LORD has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> for she said, “The LORD heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/29-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> for she said, “Now I will praise the LORD!” And then she stopped having children.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">29:17 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Leah had dull eyes,</span><span class="ft"> or </span><span class="it">Leah had soft eyes.</span><span class="ft"> The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">29:32 </span><span class="it">Reuben</span><span class="ft"> means “Look, a son!” It also sounds like the Hebrew for “He has seen my misery.”</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">29:33 </span><span class="it">Simeon</span><span class="ft"> probably means “one who hears.”</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">29:34 </span><span class="it">Levi</span><span class="ft"> sounds like a Hebrew term that means “being attached” or “feeling affection for.”</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">29:35 </span><span class="it">Judah</span><span class="ft"> is related to the Hebrew term for “praise.”</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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