1 Jacob walked east until he got to his grandfather's country.

2 When he got there, he saw 3 mobs of sheep lying down in a paddock. They were all waiting next to a waterhole that had a big flat stone on top. 3 In that culture, the shepherds and their sheep had to wait until everyone's sheep got there. Then the shepherds would take the stone off the waterhole and give water to all the sheep. When the sheep had finished drinking, the shepherds put the stone back over the waterhole to keep the water safe.

4 Jacob walked up to the shepherds and said, “Hello my brothers, where are you from?”

And they answered, “We are from Harran.”

5 Jacob asked, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”

They answered, “Yes we know him.”

6 Jacob asked, “How is he?”

And they answered, “He is well, but hey look, here comes his daughter Rachel Ruth 4:11; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18 with his sheep.”

7 Jacob said, “It is still the middle of the day. It's a bit early to put them in the stockyard for the night. Why don't you give them some water now and then let them go back out into the paddock?”

8 The shepherds said, “No. We do not give water to any of the sheep until all the sheep are here. When they are all here, we will roll the stone away from the waterhole and give water to them.”

9 While Jacob was still talking with the shepherds, Rachel came to the waterhole with her father's sheep. It was her job to look after them. 10 When Jacob saw Rachel with the sheep, he went to the waterhole and rolled the stone off the top. Then he gave water to her sheep. You see, the sheep belonged to Laban, and Laban was Jacob's uncle. 11 Jacob kissed Rachel on the side of her face. He was so happy he cried out loud. 12 He said to her, “I am Rebekah's son and your father is my uncle. I am your cousin.” When Rachel heard what he said, she ran home to tell her father, Laban.

13 As soon as Laban heard what Rachel said, he ran to meet Jacob. He hugged him and kissed him, and then took him to his house. Jacob told his uncle Laban the whole story. 14 Then Laban said, “You are family for me.”

Jacob stayed and worked for his uncle for one month. 15 At the end of the month Laban said to Jacob, “You are my close relation. I cannot let you work for nothing. How can I pay you?”

16-17 Laban had 2 daughters. The oldest daughter was named Leah and she had nice eyes, but Rachel looked really beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel and so he said to Laban, “I will work for you for 7 years, if you let me marry your younger daughter Rachel.”

19 Laban said, “I am really happy that you want to marry her. It is better that you marry her than for her to marry any other man. Yes, stay and work for me.” 20 And so, Jacob worked for 7 years so that he could marry Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel that much, the 7 years were like 7 days for him.

21 When Jacob had worked for 7 years, he said to Laban. “I have worked the 7 years for you and now I want to marry Rachel.”

22-24 To let everyone know that Rachel and Jacob were getting married, Laban gave a special party for all his friends and family.

That night Laban tricked Jacob. Laban did not take Rachel to Jacob, he took Leah. It was so dark in the bedroom that Jacob did not know that he slept with Leah.

Some time before, Laban had given Leah a young woman named Zilpah to work for her. 25 In the morning, Jacob got a big shock when he woke up and found Leah in his bed. Straight away he knew that Laban had tricked him, and he was married to Leah, not Rachel. Jacob went and growled at Laban. He said, “What have you done to me. I worked for 7 years to marry Rachel. Why did you trick me?”

26 Laban answered, “In this culture, the oldest daughter must be married before the younger sisters can get married. 27 I tell you what. At the end of one week I will let you marry Rachel as well. But you will have to stay and work for me for another 7 years.”

28-30 Jacob agreed to Laban's plan and a week later he married Rachel. Just like he did for Leah, Laban gave Rachel a young woman to work for her. Her name was Bilhah.

Jacob worked for Laban for another 7 years, but he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.

31 God saw that Jacob did not love Leah and so God was kind to her and let her have babies but he did not let Rachel have any. 32 Jacob slept with Leah and she had a son. She named him Reuben. In her language that name means God knows about my sadness and she said to herself, “My husband will love me now.”

33 Leah had another son and she named him Simeon and said, “God knows that Jacob does not love me and so he has given me another son.”

34 Leah had another son and she named him Levi and said, “Jacob must love me now. I have given him 3 sons!”

35 Leah had another son and she named him Judah and said, “I will say good things about God.” Then Leah stopped having any more children.