jacob and rachel

²⁸He agreed to his pleading. And after the week had passed, he took Rachel as a wife.

⁷As for me, when I came from Mesopotamia, Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the very journey, and it was springtime. And I entered Ephrath and buried her next to the way of Ephrath, which by another name is called Bethlehem.”

²⁰Therefore, Jacob served for seven years for Rachel. And these seemed like only a few days, because of the greatness of love.

¹⁰When Jacob had seen her, and he realized that she was his maternal first cousin, and that these were the sheep of his uncle Laban, he removed the stone which closed the well. ¹¹And having watered the flock, he kissed her. And lifting up his voice, he wept. ¹²And he revealed to her that he was a brother of her father, and the son of Rebekah. And so, hurrying, she announced it to her father. ¹³And when he had heard that Jacob, his sister’s son, had arrived, he ran to meet him. And embracing him, and kissing him heartily, he brought him into his house. But when he had heard the reasons for his journey, ¹⁴he responded, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And after the days of one month were completed, ¹⁵he said to him: “Though you are my brother, will you serve me for nothing? Tell me what wages you would accept.”

¹⁶Then, departing from there, he arrived in springtime at the land that leads to Ephrath. And there, when Rachel was giving birth, ¹⁷because it was a difficult birth, she began to be in danger. And the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you will have this son also.” ¹⁸Then, when her life was departing because of the pain, and death was now imminent, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my pain. Yet truly, his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand. ¹⁹And so Rachel died, and she was buried in the way that leads to Ephrath: this place is Bethlehem. ²⁰And Jacob erected a monument over her sepulcher. This is the monument to Rachel’s tomb, even to the present day.

¹⁸And Jacob, loving her, said, “I will serve you for seven years, for your younger daughter Rachel.”

²²The Lord, likewise remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb. ²³And she conceived and bore a son, saying, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴And she called his name Joseph, saying, “The Lord has added to me another son.”

¹Then Jacob, lifting up his eyes, saw Esau arriving, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the sons of Leah and Rachel, and of both the handmaids. ²And he placed the two handmaids and their children at the beginning. Truly, Leah and her sons were in the second place. Then Rachel and Joseph were last.

¹Then Rachel, discerning that she was infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband, “Give me children, otherwise I will die.”

¹⁹The sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin.

³⁰And, having at last obtained the marriage he desired, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and he served with him another seven years.

¹Then Rachel, discerning that she was infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband, “Give me children, otherwise I will die.” ²Jacob, being angry, responded to her, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of your womb?” ³But she said: “I have a handmaid Bilhah. Go in to her, so that she may give birth upon my knees, and I may have sons by her.” ⁴And she gave him Bilhah in marriage. ⁵And when her husband had gone in to her, she conceived and bore a son. ⁶And Rachel said, “The Lord has judged for me, and he has heeded my voice, giving me a son.” And because of this, she called his name Dan.

²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

⁴He sent and called for Rachel and Leah, in the field where he pastured the flocks,

²⁸He agreed to his pleading. And after the week had passed, he took Rachel as a wife. ²⁹To her, the father had given Bilhah as her servant. ³⁰And, having at last obtained the marriage he desired, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and he served with him another seven years.

¹⁷But while Leah was bleary-eyed, Rachel had an elegant appearance and was attractive to behold.