When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, accompanied by Laban's sheep, Jacob approached the well, rolled the stone from the opening of the well, and then watered his mother's brother Laban's flock.

Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock.

Instead, get up, travel to Paddan-aram, and visit the household of Bethuel, your mother's father. Marry one of Laban's daughters, since he's your mother's brother.

Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches.

Now Jacob used to listen while Laban's sons kept on complaining, "Jacob has taken over everything our father owns! He made himself wealthy from what belongs to our father!"

When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him, kissed him, and brought him back to his house. Then Jacob told Laban about everything that had happened.

Meanwhile, Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, where Laban had caught up with him. Laban and his relatives encamped on that same mountain in the hill country of Gilead, too.

So Laban entered Jacob's tent, Leah's tent, and the tents of the two maid servants, but he didn't find them. Then he left Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.

So Isaac sent Jacob off toward Paddan-aram to visit Bethuel's son Laban, the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

"Do you happen to know Nahor's son Laban?" he inquired. "We do," they replied.

Later, Laban asked Jacob, "Should you serve me for free, just because you're my nephew? Let's talk about what your wages should be."

"It's better that I give her to you than to another man," Laban replied, "so stay with me."

But Laban responded, "It's not the practice of our place to give the younger one in marriage before the firstborn.

Meanwhile, Laban had been out shearing his sheep. While he was away, Rachel stole her father's personal idols.

That night, God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Be careful what you say to Jacob, whether it's one word good or bad."

Then Rachel told her father, "Sir, please don't be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence. It's that time of the month." So Laban searched for the idols, but never did find them.

Then Jacob got angry and started an argument with Laban. "What have I done?" he demanded. "What's my crime that would cause you to come pursue me so violently?

Then Laban said, "This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today." That's how the place came to be named Galeed.

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to the man and met him at the spring.

"Come on," Laban said. "The LORD has blessed you! So why are you standing out here when I've prepared some space in the house and a place for the camels?"

But when they had prepared a meal and set it in front of him, he said, "I'm not eating until I've spoken." "Speak up!" Laban exclaimed.

"Since this has come from the LORD," Laban and Bethuel both replied, "we cannot speak one way or another.

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Son, you'd better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran,

Laban responded, "You certainly are my flesh and blood!" So Jacob stayed with him for about a month.

Now Laban happened to have two daughters. The older one was named Leah and the younger was named Rachel.

Jacob loved Rachel, so he made this offer to Laban: "I'll serve you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

Eventually, Jacob told Laban, "Bring me my wife, now that my time of service has been completed, so I can go be with her."

So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival.

That night Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. He had marital relations with her.

Laban also gave his servant woman Zilpah to Leah to be her maidservant.

The next morning, Jacob realized that it was Leah! "What have you done to me?" he demanded of Laban. "Didn't I serve you for seven years in order to marry Rachel? Why did you deceive me?"

So Jacob completed another seven years' work, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Laban also gave his woman servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maidservant.

Jacob also married Rachel, since he loved her. He served Laban another full seven years' work for Rachel.

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, "Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country.

Then Laban responded, "If I've found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I've learned through divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.

But Jacob replied to Laban, "You know how I've served you and how your cattle thrived under my care.

"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked.

"Okay," Laban replied. "We'll do it the way you've asked."

That very day, Laban removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted that is, every one that had white on them and all the black lambs and placed them into the care of his sons.

But he didn't put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob.

Jacob also noticed that the way Laban had been looking at him wasn't as nice as it had been just two days earlier.

"When Laban said, "The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flock gave birth to speckled ones. Then when he said, "The streaked ones will be your wages,' all the flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

""Look around!' he said. "Go ahead, look! All the male goats have been mating with the flock, producing offspring that are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I've been watching everything that Laban has done to you.

Moreover, Jacob had deceived Laban the Aramean, because he had never told him that he was intending to leave.

Three days later, somebody reported to Laban that Jacob had left,

so he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob. Laban was on the road for seven days when he finally caught up with Jacob in the hill country of Gilead.

Then Laban asked Jacob, "What did you do? You deceived me, carried off my daughters like you would war captives,

Meanwhile, Rachel had taken the idols, placed them inside the saddle of her camel, and sat on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but found nothing.

But Laban answered Jacob, "These women are my daughters. These children are my children. The flocks are mine. In fact, everything that you see belongs to me. But what would I do today to my daughters and the children they have borne?

Laban named the place Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.

It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "May the LORD watch between you and me, when we are estranged from each other.

"Look!" Laban added, "Here is the stack of stones and here is the pillar that I've set up between you and me.

Early the next morning, Laban woke up, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, blessed them, and then left for home.

He instructed them, "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: "Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, "I've journeyed to stay with Laban and I've remained there until now.

These were all sons from Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah. She bore these sixteen children for Jacob.

These were sons of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel. She bore these children for Jacob seven in all.

Then Abraham's servant took ten camels from his master's herd of camels and left on his journey with all kinds of gifts from his master's inventory. Eventually, he traveled as far as Aram-naharaim, Nahor's home town.

Now Joseph was well built and good looking. That's why, sometime later, Joseph's master's wife looked straight at Joseph and propositioned him: "Come on! Let's have a little sex!"

But Joseph observed that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head. That displeased him, so he grabbed his father's hand and started to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

Then Shem and Japheth took their father's cloak, laid it across both their shoulders, and walking backwards, they both covered their father's genitals. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's genitals.

Besides, she really is my sister she's my father's daughter, but not my mother's daughter so she could become my wife.

So here's Rebekah she's right in front of you. Take her and go, so she can become a wife for your master's son, just as the LORD has decreed."

So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands."

In response, Leah asked her, "Wasn't it enough that you've taken away my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes!" But Rachel replied, "Okay, let's let Jacob sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

Leah's servant Zilpah's sons were Gad and Asher. These were Jacob's sons who were born to him while he lived in Paddan-aram.

The names of Esau's sons were Eliphaz (the son of Esau's wife Adah) and Reuel (the son of Esau's wife Basemath).

These were the descendants of Esau's wife Oholibamah: tribal leaders Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These tribal leaders descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah, Anah's daughter.

After Achbor's son Baal-hanan died, Hadar ruled in his place. His city's name was Pau. And his wife's name was Mehetabel, who was the daughter of Matred, and granddaughter of Me-zahab.

From the time he appointed Joseph to be overseer over his entire household and everything that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The LORD's blessing rested on Joseph, whether in Potiphar's household or in Potiphar's fields.

The men were terrified as they were being taken to Joseph's palace. "It's because of that money that was returned to our sacks the first time we were brought to him," they reasoned. "He's seeking an excuse to attack us, enslave us, and confiscate our donkeys!"

The palace manager searched for the cup, beginning with the oldest brother's sack and ending with the youngest brother's sack, and there it was! in Benjamin's sack.

Here's a list of the names of Israel's sons, that is, of Jacob and his sons who moved to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn;