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The Blue Letter Bible

Genesis 29 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:1 - Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:2 - 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. The stone over the mouth of the well was large.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:3 - When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:4 - Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Harran,” they replied.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:5 - He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:6 - Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?” “Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:7 - “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.”

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Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:8 - “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:9 - While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:10 - When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:11 - Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:12 - He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:13 - As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:14 - Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

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Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:15 - Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:16 - Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:17 - Leah had weak[fn] eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:18 - Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:19 - Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:20 - So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:21 - Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:22 - So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:23 - But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:24 - And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:25 - When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”

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Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:26 - Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:27 - Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:28 - And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:29 - Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:30 - Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:31

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:31 - When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:32

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:32 - Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[fn] for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:33

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:33 - She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:34 - Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 29:35

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 29:35 - 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.[fn] Then she stopped having children.
See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NIV Footnotes
Or delicate
Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son.
Simeon probably means one who hears.
Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached.
Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
NIV

HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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Genesis Chapter 29 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras