and [that] Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram.

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.

Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran.

And he arrived at a [certain] place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took [one] of the stones of the place and put [it] under his head and slept at that place.

And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God [were] going up and going down on it.

And behold, Yahweh [was] standing beside him, and he said, "I [am] Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you [were] sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants.

Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants.

Now behold, I [am] with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you."

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh {is indeed} in this place and I did not know!"

Then he was afraid and said, "How awesome [is] this place! {This is nothing else than the house of God}, and this is the gate of heaven!"

And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up [as] a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city [was] formerly Luz.

And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

and [if] I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God.

And this stone that I have set up [as] a pillar shall be the house of God, and [of] all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you."

And Jacob {continued his journey} and went to the land of the Easterners.

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.

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.

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

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

And he said to them, "{Is he well}?" And they said, "[He is] well. Now look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep."

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."

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."

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.

And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.

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.

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.

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

Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older [was] Leah, and the name of the younger [was] Rachel.

Now the eyes of Leah [were] dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

And Jacob loved Rachel and said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."

And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her.

And Jacob said to Laban, "Give [me] my wife, that I may go in to her, for {my time} is completed."

So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast.

And it happened [that] in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her.

And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter [as] a female servant.

And it happened [that] in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah! And he said to Laban, "What [is] this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?"

And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this [one], then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife.

And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant.

Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

Then Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, "Because Yahweh has noticed my misery, that I [am] unloved. Now my husband will love me."

And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, "[It is] because Yahweh has heard that I [am] unloved that he gave me this [son] also." And she called his name Simeon.

And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons." Therefore, she called his name Levi.

And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, "This time I will praise Yahweh." Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.

When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me children--if not, I will die!"

And Jacob {became angry} with Rachel. And he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her

And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.

Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.

And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob.

And Rachel said, "I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob.

Then Leah said, "Good fortune!" And she called his name Gad.

And Zilpah, Leah's female servant, bore a second son to Jacob.

And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

And she said to her, "[Is] your taking my husband [such] a small [thing] that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?" Then Rachel said, "Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "Come in to me, for {I have hired} you with my son's mandrakes." And he slept with her that night.

And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

Then Leah said, "God has given [me] my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband." And she called his name Issachar.

And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.

And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun.

And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah.

Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb.

And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, "God has taken away my disgrace."

And she called his name Joseph, saying, "Yahweh has added to me another son."

And it happened [that] as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away that I may go to my place and my land.

Give [me] my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you."

And he said, "Name your wage to me and I will give [it]."

Then he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.

For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you {wherever I turned}. So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?"

And he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep [them].

Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That shall be my wages.

And my righteousness will answer for me {later} when you come concerning my wages before you. Every [one] that [is] not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen [if it is] with me."

But that day he removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that [had] white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and {put them in the charge of his sons}.

And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban's flock.

Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which [was] on the branches.

And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs [and] in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink.

And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted.

And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban's flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban.

And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches {in full view} of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches.

But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put [them there]. So the feebler were Laban's and the stronger [were] Jacob's.

And the man became {exceedingly} rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.

Now he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, "Jacob has taken all that our father has," and "From that which [was] our father's he has gained all this wealth."

Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, {it was not like it had been in the past}.

And Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you."

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks,

and he said to them, "Look, I see the face of your father, that {it is not like it has been toward me in the past}. But the God of my father is with me.

and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me.

If thus he said, 'Speckled shall be your wage,' then all the flock bore speckled. And [if] he said, 'Streaked shall be your wage,' then all the flock bore streaked.

God has taken away your father's livestock and given [them] to me.

Now it happened [that] at the time of the mating of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams mounting the flock [were] streaked, speckled, and dappled.

Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I [am].'

And he said, 'Lift up your eyes and see--all the rams mounting the flock [are] streaked, speckled, and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

I [am] the God of Bethel where you anointed a stone pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.'"

Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "[Is there] yet a portion for us, and an inheritance in the house of our father?

Are we not regarded [as] foreigners by him, because he has sold us and completely consumed our money?

For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do."

Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on the camels.

And he drove all his livestock and his possessions that he had acquired, the livestock of his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.