27:1 David thought to himself, ¹  “One of these days I’m going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand.”

27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. 27:3 David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. ²  David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. 27:4 When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.

27:5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?” 27:6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) 27:7 The length of time ³  that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year ⁴  and four months.

27:8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach ⁵  to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 27:9 When David would attack a district, ⁶  he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. 27:10 When Achish would ask, “Where ⁷  did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jeharmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” 27:11 Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, “This way they can’t tell on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” Such was his practice the entire time ⁸  that he lived in the country of the Philistines. 27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, ⁹  “He is really hated ¹⁰  among his own people in ¹¹  Israel! From now on ¹²  he will be my servant.”

29:1 So Jacob moved on ¹  and came to the land of the eastern people. ²  29:2 He saw ³  in the field a well with ⁴  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ⁵  a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds ⁶  would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson ⁷  of Nahor?” “We know him,” ⁸  they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” ⁹  Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. ¹⁰  Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob ¹¹  said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, ¹²  it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” ¹³  29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water ¹⁴  the sheep.”

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ¹⁵  29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ¹⁶  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ¹⁷  went over ¹⁸  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ¹⁹  29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. ²⁰ 

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ¹  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ²  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ³  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ⁴  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ⁵  her so that she can bear ⁶  children ⁷  for me ⁸  and I can have a family through her.” ⁹ 

30:4 So Rachel ¹⁰  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ¹¹  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant ¹²  and gave Jacob a son. ¹³  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ¹⁴  and given me a son.” That is why ¹⁵  she named him Dan. ¹⁶ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ¹⁷  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ¹⁸  So she named him Naphtali. ¹⁹ 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ²⁰  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ²¹  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” ²²  So she named him Gad. ²³ 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ²⁴  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ²⁵  for women ²⁶  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ²⁷ 

30:14 At the time ²⁸  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ²⁹  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, ³⁰  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ³¹  Rachel said, “he may sleep ³²  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ³³  with me because I have paid for your services ³⁴  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ³⁵  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention ³⁶  to Leah; she became pregnant ³⁷  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. ³⁸  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ³⁹  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ⁴⁰  So she named him Issachar. ⁴¹ 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ⁴²  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ⁴³ 

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

30:22 Then God took note of ⁴⁴  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ⁴⁵  30:23 She became pregnant ⁴⁶  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ⁴⁷  30:24 She named him Joseph, ⁴⁸  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

30:25 After Rachel had given birth ⁴⁹  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send ⁵⁰  me on my way so that I can go ⁵¹  home to my own country. ⁵²  30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ⁵³  Then I’ll depart, ⁵⁴  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ⁵⁵ 

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ⁵⁶  for I have learned by divination ⁵⁷  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” ⁵⁸ 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ⁵⁹  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ⁶⁰  30:30 Indeed, ⁶¹  you had little before I arrived, ⁶²  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁶³  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁶⁴  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁶⁵ 

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁶⁶  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁶⁷  Jacob replied, ⁶⁸  “but if you agree to this one condition, ⁶⁹  I will continue to care for ⁷⁰  your flocks and protect them: