Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
21 So finally, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time to work for you has finished and I want to marry her.’
22 Laban called all the people in that place to come together. He prepared a big meal for them to eat. 23 When evening came, Laban brought his daughter Leah to Jacob. Jacob slept that night with her as his wife. 24 Laban gave his female servant to Leah to be her servant. Her name was Zilpah.
25 When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to have Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’
26 Laban replied, ‘In our land, we do not give the younger daughter to a man first. We let the older daughter marry first. 27 So finish this week of Leah's marriage. Then we will give you Rachel to marry too. But you must work for another seven years.’
29:27A marriage week was the seven days of the feast. Jacob had to sleep with his new wife Leah until the end of the week.
28 So Jacob did what Laban said. He finished the marriage week with Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to Rachel to become her servant. 30 Jacob also slept with Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. He worked for Laban for seven more years.
Leah gives birth to four sons for Jacob
31 The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. 32 So Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’
29:32The name ‘Reuben’ means ‘Look, a son!’ in Hebrew.
33 Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son. He knows that my husband does not love me.’ She called this son Simeon.
29:33The name ‘Simeon’ sounds like ‘Someone who hears’ in Hebrew.
34 Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay near to me.’ She called this son Levi.
29:34The name ‘Levi’ sounds like ‘Hold near’ in Hebrew.
35 Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. Then she stopped giving birth to children.
29:35The name ‘Judah’ sounds like ‘ Praise’ in Hebrew.
