Genesis 28:1-9 - Jacob Flees To Haran

¹ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. ³ Now, may El-Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples. ⁴ And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham." ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and he blessed him and instructed him, saying, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," ⁷ and [that] Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram. ⁸ Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan [were] evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, ⁹ then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had.

¹ And Jacob {continued his journey} and went to the land of the Easterners. ² And he looked, and behold, [there was] a well in the field, and behold, there [were] three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. And the stone on the mouth of the well [was] large. ³ And [when] all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well. And they watered the sheep and returned the stone upon the mouth of the well to its place.

⁴ And Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where [are] you from?" And they said, "We [are] from Haran."

⁵ And he said to them, "Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know [him]."

⁶ And he said to them, "{Is he well}?" And they said, "[He is] well. Now look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep." ⁷ And he said, "Look, [it is] still {broad daylight}; it is not the time [for] the livestock to be gathered. Give water to the sheep and go, pasture them."

⁸ And they said, "We are not able, until all the flocks are gathered. Then the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well, and we water the sheep."

⁹ While he was speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which belonged to her father, for she was pasturing [them]. ¹⁰ And it happened [that], when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob drew near and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother. ¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he [was] the relative of her father, and that he [was] the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it happened [that] when Laban heard the message about Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran to meet him. And he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, "Surely you [are] my flesh and my bone!" And he stayed with him a month.