This document recounts Jacob's journey to Paddan-aram to find a wife from his extended family as his parents had instructed. It describes his encounter with God at Bethel in a dream where God promises the land and numerous offspring to Jacob. It then tells of Jacob meeting Rachel at a well and working for her father Laban for seven years to marry her, only to be deceived into marrying Leah first. Jacob then works another seven years for Rachel. The document ends with Leah bearing children for Jacob while her sister Rachel remains barren.

1. Shema
in pursuit of a fully integrated Scripture
seeking to walk out our faith in the footsteps of the
Anointed One

2. Genesis 28
1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him
and directed him, “You must not take a wife
from the Canaanite women. 2 Arise, go to
Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your
mother’s father, and take as your wife from
there one of the daughters of Laban your
mother’s brother.

3. •
3 God Almighty bless you and make you
fruitful and multiply you, that you may
become a company of peoples. 4 May he give
the blessing of Abraham to you and to your
offspring with you, that you may take
possession of the land of your sojournings
that God gave to Abraham!” 5 Thus Isaac sent
Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to
Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the
brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s
mother.

4. •
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob
and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a
wife from there, and that as he blessed him
he directed him, “You must not take a wife
from the Canaanite women,” 7 and that
Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother
and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So when Esau
saw that the Canaanite women did not please
Isaac his father, 9 Esau went to Ishmael and
took as his wife, besides the wives he had,
Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s
son, the sister of Nebaioth.

5. •
10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward
Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and
stayed there that night, because the sun had
set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he
put it under his head and lay down in that
place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and
behold, there was a ladder [fn2] set up on
the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it!

6. •
13 And behold, the LORD stood above it [fn3]
and said, “I am the LORD, the God of
Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.
The land on which you lie I will give to you
and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall
be like the dust of the earth, and you shall
spread abroad to the west and to the east
and to the north and to the south, and in you
and your offspring shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you
and will keep you wherever you go, and will
bring you back to this land. For I will not
leave you until I have done what I have
promised you.”

7. •
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,
“Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did
not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said,
“How awesome is this place! This is none
other than the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.”
•
18 So early in the morning Jacob took the
stone that he had put under his head and set
it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of
it. 19 He called the name of that place
Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at
the first.

8. •
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God
will be with me and will keep me in this way
that I go, and will give me bread to eat and
clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to
my father’s house in peace, then the LORD
shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I
have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.
And of all that you give me I will give a full
tenth to you.”

9. •
1 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to
the land of the people of the east. 2 As he
looked, he saw a well in the field, and
behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it,
for out of that well the flocks were watered.
The stone on the well’s mouth was large,
3 and when all the flocks were gathered
there, the shepherds would roll the stone
from the mouth of the well and water the
sheep, and put the stone back in its place
over the mouth of the well.

10. •
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do
you come from?” They said, “We are from
Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know
Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We
know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with
him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel
his daughter is coming with the sheep!”

11. 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is
not time for the livestock to be gathered
together. Water the sheep and go, pasture
them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all
the flocks are gathered together and the
stone is rolled from the mouth of the well;
then we water the sheep.”

12. 9 While he was still speaking with them,
Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she
was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob
saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his
mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his
mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled
the stone from the well’s mouth and watered
the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

13. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her
father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s
son, and she ran and told her father.

14. 13 As soon as Laban heard the news about
Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him
and embraced him and kissed him and
brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban
all these things, 14 and Laban said to him,
“Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And
he stayed with him a month.

15. •
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you
are my kinsman, should you therefore serve
me for nothing? Tell me, what shall 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 Leah’s
eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in
form and appearance.

16. •
18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will
serve you seven years for your younger
daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better
that I give her to you than that I should give
her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So
Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and
they seemed to him but a few days because
of the love he had for her.

17. •
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my
wife that I may go in to her, for my time is
completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together
all the people of the place and made a feast.
23 But in the evening he took his daughter
Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went
in to her.

18. •
24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to
his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And
in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And
Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have
done to me? Did I not serve with you for
Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our
country, to give the younger before the
firstborn.

19. •
27 Complete the week of this one, and we
will give you the other also in return for
serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob
did so, and completed her week. Then Laban
gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to
his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So
Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved
Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for
another seven years.

20. •
31 When the LORD saw that Leah was hated,
he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and
she called his name Reuben, for she said,
“Because the LORD has looked upon my
affliction; for now my husband will love me.”
33 She conceived again and bore a son, and
said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am
hated, he has given me this son also.” And
she called his name Simeon.

21. 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and
said, “Now this time my husband will be
attached to me, because I have borne him
three sons.” Therefore his name was called
Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a
son, and said, “This time I will praise the
LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah.
Then she ceased bearing.

22. Acts 23
1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said,
“Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all
good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high
priest Ananias commanded those who stood by
him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said
to him, “God is going to strike you, you
whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me
according to the law, and yet contrary to the law
you order me to be struck?”

23. 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile
God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I did not
know, brothers, that he was the high priest,
for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a
ruler of your people.’”

24. 6 Now when Paul perceived that one part
were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he
cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a
Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect
to the hope and the resurrection of the dead
that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said
this, a dissension arose between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the
assembly was divided.

25. •
8 For the Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the
Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a
great clamor arose, and some of the scribes
of the Pharisees’ party stood up and
contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in
this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to
him?” 10 And when the dissension became
violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would
be torn to pieces by them, commanded the
soldiers to go down and take him away from
among them by force and bring him into the
barracks.

26. •
11 The following night the Lord stood by him
and said, “Take courage, for as you have
testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem,
so you must testify also in Rome.”

27. •
12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and
bound themselves by an oath neither to eat
nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 There
were more than forty who made this
conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests
and elders and said, “We have strictly bound
ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we
have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore you, along
with the council, give notice to the tribune to
bring him down to you, as though you were
going to determine his case more exactly. And
we are ready to kill him before he comes
near.”

28. •
16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their
ambush, so he went and entered the barracks
and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the
centurions and said, “Take this young man to
the tribune, for he has something to tell
him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to
the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner
called me and asked me to bring this young
man to you, as he has something to say to
you.”

29. 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and
going aside asked him privately, “What is it
that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said,
“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring
Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though
they were going to inquire somewhat more
closely about him.

30. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for
more than forty of their men are lying in
ambush for him, who have bound themselves
by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they
have killed him. And now they are ready,
waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune
dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell
no one that you have informed me of these
things.”

31. •
23 Then he called two of the centurions and
said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with
seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen
to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of
the night. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to
ride and bring him safely to Felix the
governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this
effect:

32. •
26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the
governor Felix, greetings. 27 This man was
seized by the Jews and was about to be killed
by them when I came upon them with the
soldiers and rescued him, having learned that
he was a Roman citizen. 28 And desiring to
know the charge for which they were
accusing him, I brought him down to their
council.

33. 29 I found that he was being accused about
questions of their law, but charged with
nothing deserving death or imprisonment.
30 And when it was disclosed to me that
there would be a plot against the man, I sent
him to you at once, ordering his accusers also
to state before you what they have against
him.”

34. •
31 So the soldiers, according to their
instructions, took Paul and brought him by
night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day
they returned to the barracks, letting the
horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had
come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to
the governor, they presented Paul also before
him.

35. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what
province he was from. And when he learned
that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will
give you a hearing when your accusers
arrive.” And he commanded him to be
guarded in Herod’s praetorium.

36. And in conclusion . . .