Page:The Holy Bible (YLT).djvu/39

Jacob's dream. and he doth give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojourniugs, which God gave to Abraham.'

And Isaac sendeth away Jacob, and he goeth to Padan-Aram, unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramæan, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau.

And Esau seeth that Isaac hath blessed Jacob, and hath sent him to Padan-Aram to take to himself from thence a wife—in his blessing him that he layeth a charge upon him, saying, Thou dost not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan— that Jacob hearkeneth unto his father and unto his mother, and goeth to Padan-Aram—and Esau seeth that the daughters of Canaan are evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, and Esau goeth unto Ishmael, and taketh Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, sister of Nebajoth, unto his wives, to himself, for a wife.

And Jacob goeth out from Beer-Sheba, and goeth toward Haran, and he toucheth at a certain place, and lodgeth there, for the sun hath gone in, and he taketh of the stones of the place, and maketh them his pillows, and lieth down in that place.

And he dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it; and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, 'I am, Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed;  and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.

'And lo, I am with thee, and have kept thee whithersoever thou goest, and have caused thee to turn back unto this ground; for I leave thee not till that I have surely done that which I have spoken to thee.'

And Jacob awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, 'Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew not;' and he feareth, and saith, 'How fearful is this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.'

And Jacob riseth early in the morning, and taketh the stone which he hath made his pillows, and maketh it a standing pillar, and poureth oil upon its top, and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, [house of God], and yet, Luz is the name of the city at the first.

And Jacob voweth a vow, saying, 'Seeing God is with me, and hath kept me in this way which I am going, and hath given to me bread to eat, and a garment to put on— when I have turned back in peace unto the house of my father, and Jehovah hath become my God, then this stone which I have made a standing pillar is a house of God, and all that Thou dost give to me—tithing I tithe to Thee.'

XXIX. AND Jacob lifteth up his feet, and goeth towards the land of the sons of the east; and he looketh, and lo a well in the field, and lo, there three droves of a flock crouching by it, for from that well they water the droves, and the great stone is on the mouth of the well.

(When thither have all the droves been gathered, and they have rolled the stone from off the mouth of the well, and have watered the flock, then they have turned back the stone on the mouth of the well to its place.)

And Jacob saith to them, 'My brethren, from whence are ye?' and they say, 'We are from Haran.' And he saith to them, 'Have ye known Laban, son of Nahor?' and they say, 'We have known.'  "And he saith to them, 'Hath he peace?' and they say, 'Peace; and lo, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock.'

And he saith, 'Lo, the day is still great, it is not time for the cattle to be gathered; water ye the flock, and go, delight yourselves.' And they say, 'We are not able, till that all the droves be gathered together, and they have rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and we have watered the flock.'

He is yet speaking with them, and Rachel hath come with the flock which her father hath, for she is shepherdess; and it cometh to pass when Jacob hath seen Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the flock of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob cometh nigh and rolleth the stone from off the mouth of the well, and watereth the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

And Jacob kisseth Rachel, and lifteth up his voice, and weepeth, and Jacob declareth to Rachel that he is her father's brother, and that he is Rebekah's son, and she runneth and declareth to her father.

And it cometh to pass, when Laban heareth the report of Jacob his sister's son, that he runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and kisseth him, and bringeth him in unto his house; and he recounteth to Laban all these things, and Laban saith to him, 'Only my bone and my flesh art thou;' and he dwelleth with him a month of days.

And Laban saith to Jacob, 'Is it because thou art my brother that thou hast served me for nought? declare to me what is thy hire.' And Laban hath two daughters, the name of the elder is Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel,  and the eyes of Leah are tender, and Rachel hath been fair of form and fair of appearance.

And Jacob loveth Rachel, and saith, 'I serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter:' and Laban saith, 'It is better for me to give her to thee than to give her to another man; dwell with me;'  and Jacob serveth for Rachel seven years; and they are in his eyes as some days, because of his loving her.

And Jacob saith unto Laban, 'Give up my wife, for my days have been fulfilled, and I go in unto her;' and Laban gathereth all the men of the place, and maketh a banquet. And it cometh to pass in the evening, that he taketh Leah, his daughter, and bringeth her in unto him, and he goeth in unto her; and Laban giveth to her Zilpah, his 19