Study Desk

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

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 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.

For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us!

Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters and the grandsons are my grandsons, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see, it is mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne?

And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones.

And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal. And they ate the meal and spent the night on the hill.

But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

Then the female servants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed down.

Then Leah and her children drew near and bowed down, and afterward Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down.

But he said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail, and the flocks and the cattle which are nursing are a concern to me. Now if they drove them hard for a day all the flocks would die.

And Jacob heard that Dinah his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were with his flocks in the field. And Jacob kept silent until they came.

And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. And the men were distressed and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by having sexual relations with the daughter of Jacob—something that should not be done.

And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace for us.

Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying,

Only on this condition will they give consent to us, to live with us and to become one family—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.