And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large,
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.
And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”
She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.
So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.
And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.”
And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.
Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.
Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”
And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.
In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”
But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,
This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.
and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,
These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”
then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’”
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die.
But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.
The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”
They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
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