One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 59
49
because Rachel was his c ousin—the
daughter of La
ban, his mother’s
brother—and because the sheep and
goats belonged to his uncle Laban,
Jacob went over to the well and moved
the stone from its mouth and watered
his uncle’s flock. 11 Then Jacob kissed
Rachel, and he wept aloud. 12 He explained to Rachel that he was her
cousin on her father’s side—the son of
her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly
ran and told her father, Laban.
13 As soon as Laban heard that his
nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out
to meet him. He embraced and kissed
him and brought him home. When
Jacob had told him his story, 14 Laban
exclaimed, “You really are my own
flesh and blood!”
After Jacob had stayed with La
ban for about a month, 15 Laban said
to him, “You shouldn’t work for me
without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages
should be.”
16 Now La
ban had two daughters.
The older daughter was named Leah,
and the younger one was Ra
chel.
17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s
eyes,* but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob
was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years
if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger
daughter, as my wife.”
19 “Agreed!” La
ban replied. “I’d
rather give her to you than to anyone
else. Stay and work with me.” 20 So
Jacob worked seven years to pay for Ra
chel. But his love for her was so strong
that it seemed to him but a few days.
21 Finally, the time came for him to
marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give
me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
22 So Laban invited everyone in the
neighborhood and prepared a wedding
feast. 23 But that night, when it was
dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and
he slept with her. 24 (Laban had given
Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)
25 But when Jacob woke up in the
morning—it was Leah! “What have you
done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban.
January 13
“I worked seven years for Rachel! Why
have you tricked me?”
26 “It’s not our custom here to marry
off a younger daughter ahead of the
firstborn,” Laban replied. 27 “But wait
until the bridal week is over; then
we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided
you promise to work another seven
years for me.”
28 So Jacob agreed to work seven
more years. A week after Jacob had
married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel,
too. 29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant,
Bilhah, to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob
slept with Rachel, too, and he loved
her much more than Leah. He then
stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was
unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.
32 So Leah became pregnant and gave
birth to a son. She named him Reu
ben,* for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband
will love me.”
33 She soon became pregnant again
and gave birth to another son. She
named him Simeon,* for she said,
“The Lord heard that I was unloved
and has given me another son.”
34 Then she became pregnant a third
time and gave birth to another son. He
was named Levi,* for she said, “Surely
this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him
three sons!”
35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son.
She named him Judah,* for she said,
“Now I will praise the Lord!” And
then she stopped having children.
28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai.
28:4 Hebrew seed;
also in 28:13, 14. 29:17 Or Leah had dull eyes, or
Leah had soft eyes. The meaning of the Hebrew is
uncertain.
29:32 Reuben means “Look, a son!” It
also sounds like the Hebrew for “He has seen my
misery.”
29:33 Simeon probably means “one who
hears.”
29:34 Levi sounds like a Hebrew term
that means “being attached” or “feeling affection
for.”
29:35 Judah is related to the Hebrew term for
“praise.”
MATTHEW 9:1838
As Jesus was saying this, the leader
of a synagogue came and knelt before
