Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[a]went on his journey, and came to the land of ^(A)the sons of the east. ² He looked, and ^[b]saw ^(B)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from ^(C)Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the ^(D)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is ^(E)Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(F)kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was a ^[c](G)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and ^(H)she ran and told her father.

¹³ So when ^(I)Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and ^(J)embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Surely you are ^(K)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my ^[d]relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall ^(L)your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was ^(M)beautiful of form and ^[e]face. ¹⁸ Now Jacob ^(N)loved Rachel, so he said, “^(O)I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days ^(P)because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my ^[f]time is completed, that I may ^(Q)go in to her.” ²² Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. ²³ Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. ²⁴ Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “^(R)What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you ^(S)deceived me?” ²⁶ But Laban said, “It is not ^[g]the practice in our place to ^[h]marry off the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which ^(T)you shall serve with me for another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed ^(U)he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with ^[i]Laban for ^(V)another seven years.

³¹ Now the Lord saw that Leah was ^[j]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah conceived and bore a son and named him ^[k]Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has ^[l](W)seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “^(X)Because the Lord has ^[m]heard that I am ^[n]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become ^[o]attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^(Y)Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will ^[p]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him ^[q](Z)Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Jesus Is Risen!

28 ^(A)Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, ^(B)Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. ² And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for ^(C)an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away ^(D)the stone and sat upon it. ³ And ^(E)his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “^[a](F)Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, ^(G)just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you ^(H)into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them ^[b]and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to them, “^[c](I)Do not be afraid; go and take word to ^(J)My brethren to leave ^(K)for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹ Now while they were on their way, some of ^(L)the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this should come to ^(M)the governor’s ears, we will win him over and ^[d]keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely ^(N)spread among the Jews, and is ^(O)to this day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ But the eleven disciples proceeded ^(P)to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but ^(Q)some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “^(R)All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ^19 [e](S)Go therefore and ^(T)make disciples of ^(U)all the nations, ^(V)baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, ^(W)I am with you ^[f]always, even to ^(X)the end of the age.”