Jacob and His Family

Chapter 28

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. ¹¹He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹²He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. ¹³And the Lord was standing beside him and He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants. ¹⁵Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it!” ¹⁷Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.” ¹⁸Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz.

²⁰Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹and if I return safe to my father’s house—the Lord shall be my God. ²²And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s abode; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.”

Chapter 29

¹Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the Easterners. ²There before his eyes was a well in the open. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for the flocks were watered from that well. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob said to them, “My friends, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “Yes, we do.” ⁶He continued, “Is he well?” They answered, “Yes, he is; and there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the flock.” ⁷He said, “It is still broad daylight, too early to round up the animals; water the flock and take them to pasture.” ⁸But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock; for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears. ¹²Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father. ¹³On hearing the news of his sister’s son Jacob, Laban ran to greet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and took him into his house. He told Laban all that had happened, ¹⁴and Laban said to him, “You are truly my bone and flesh.”

When he had stayed with him a month’s time, ¹⁵Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are a kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful. ¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider. Stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” ²²And Laban gathered all the people of the place and made a feast. ²³When evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and he cohabited with her.— ²⁴Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.—²⁵When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” ²⁶Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. ²⁷Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.” ²⁸Jacob did so; he waited out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife.—²⁹Laban had given his maidservant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.—³⁰And Jacob cohabited with Rachel also; indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him another seven years.

³¹The Lord saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³²Leah conceived and bore a son, and named him Reuben;^a for she declared, “It means: ‘The Lord has seen^b my affliction’; it also means: ‘Now my husband will love me.’”^{c 33}She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This is because the Lord heard^d that I was unloved and has given me this one also”; so she named him Simeon. ³⁴Again she conceived and bore a son and declared, “This time my husband will become attached^e to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. ³⁵She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praise^f the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Chapter 30

¹When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she became envious of her sister; and Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die.” ²Jacob was incensed at Rachel, and said, “Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?” ³She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.” ⁴So she gave him her maid Bilhah as concubine, and Jacob cohabited with her. ⁵Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶And Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;^g indeed, He has heeded my plea and given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. ⁷Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸And Rachel said, ^h-“A fateful contest I waged^-hwith my sister; yes, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali. [ . . . ]

²²Now God remembered Rachel; God heeded her and opened her womb. ²³She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away ⁱ my disgrace.” ²⁴So she named him Joseph, which is to say, “May the Lord add^j another son for me.”

²⁵After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my own homeland. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go; for well you know what services I have rendered you.”

Chapter 32

²³That same night he arose, and taking his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²⁴After taking them across the stream, he sent across all his possessions. ²⁵Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. ²⁶When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him. ²⁷Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁸Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.” ²⁹Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven^k with ^l-beings divine and human,^-land have prevailed.” ³⁰Jacob asked, “Pray tell me your name.” But he said, “You must not ask my name!” And he took leave of him there. ³¹So Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning, “I have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” ³²The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping on his hip. ³³That is why the children of Israel to this day do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the socket of the hip, since Jacob’s hip socket was wrenched at the thigh muscle.

Chapter 34

¹Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land. ²Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, chief of the country, saw her, and took her and lay with her by force. ³Being strongly drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and in love with the maiden, he spoke to the maiden tenderly. ⁴So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”

⁵Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were in the field with his cattle, Jacob kept silent until they came home. ⁶Then Shechem’s father Hamor came out to Jacob to speak to him. ⁷Mean-while Jacob’s sons, having heard the news, came in from the field. The men were distressed and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing not to be done.

⁸And Hamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him in marriage. ⁹Intermarry with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves: ¹⁰You will dwell among us, and the land will be open before you; settle, move about, and acquire holdings in it.” ¹¹Then Shechem said to her father and brothers, “Do me this favor, and I will pay whatever you tell me. ¹²Ask of me a bride-price ever so high, as well as gifts, and I will pay what you tell me; only give me the maiden for a wife.”

¹³Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor—speaking with guile because he had defiled their sister Dinah—¹⁴and said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace among us. ¹⁵Only on this condition will we agree with you; that you will become like us in that every male among you is circumcised. ¹⁶Then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to ourselves; and we will dwell among you and become as one kindred. ¹⁷But if you will not listen to us and become circumcised, we will take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹And the youth lost no time in doing the thing, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most respected in his father’s house. ²⁰So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public place of their town and spoke to their fellow townsmen, saying, ²¹“These people are our friends; let them settle in the land and move about in it, for the land is large enough for them; we will take their daughters to ourselves as wives and give our daughters to them. ²²But only on this condition will the men agree with us to dwell among us and be as one kindred: that all our males become circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³Their cattle and substance and all their beasts will be ours, if we only agree to their terms, so that they will settle among us.” ²⁴All who went out of the gate of his town heeded Hamor and his son Shechem, and all males, all those who went out of the gate of his town, were circumcised.

²⁵On the third day, when they were in pain, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons, brothers of Dinah, took each his sword, came upon the city unmolested, and slew all the males. ²⁶They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷The other sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the town, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸They seized their flocks and herds and asses, all that was inside the town and outside; ²⁹all their wealth, all their children, and their wives, all that was in the houses, they took as captives and booty.

³⁰Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my men are few in number, so that if they unite against me and attack me, I and my house will be destroyed.” ³¹But they answered, “Should our sister be treated like a whore?”