And Jacob looked, and across the field, leading a flock of sheep, came his Cousin Rachel. And Jacob rolled away the stone from the well’s mouth, and drew water for Rachel’s sheep. And he said, “I am your Cousin Jacob, the son of your Uncle Isaac and your Aunt Rebekah, and I have come to make you a long visit.” And there were tears in his eyes, because he was so glad to be at the end of his journey. And he kissed Rachel. And Rachel left the sheep, and ran and told her father that Jacob had come. And when Laban heard that, he ran out to meet Jacob and he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house.
The next day, Jacob began to help in the work of the farm. He milked the cows and watered the cattle, and made himself generally useful; but the work which he liked best was the tending of the sheep. Every day, whether there was rain or shine, he went out into the pastures and helped Rachel keep the sheep. And this he did partly because he liked sheep, but still more because he liked Rachel. So a month passed, and one day his Uncle Laban said, “Jacob, I don’t think that you ought to work without any pay just because you are my nephew. Stay with me and let me give you wages, like the other men. What shall I give you?”
And Jacob said, “Uncle Laban, I would like very much to have your daughter Rachel.”
And Laban said, “Jacob, I would rather have her marry you than any other man I know.” And Rachel felt just the same way. So it was settled that Jacob should work for Laban seven years, and then should marry Rachel. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days for the love he had to her.
Now this, you understand, was a long time ago, and far away in Asia, beyond the Euphrates. And they had a strange custom of marrying two wives, or three, and sometimes more. So when the seven years were over, Laban told Jacob that if he wished to marry Rachel, he must first marry her older sister Leah. “In our country,” he said, “we must not give the younger before the older.” So Jacob had to marry Leah, who was a good girl but very near-sighted, and serve seven more years for Rachel. This was pretty hard for both Rachel and Jacob, but he did it, and when the seven added years were passed they were married with great joy.
Then Jacob felt that it was time for him to go home, for he had gone to his Uncle Laban’s to spend a month and had stayed fourteen years. All this time his flocks and herds had grown in number. For Laban gave him sheep and goats, in payment for his work. But when Laban said, “This year you shall have for your wages all the brown sheep and all the speckled goats,” behold, that year almost all of the goats were speckled and almost all of the sheep were brown. So Jacob got to be very rich. He had sheep and goats, and cows and camels, and men-servants and maid-servants. But Jacob was so useful to Laban that Laban was not willing to let him go.
Finally, one day, when Laban was away off shearing sheep, Jacob and Rachel and Leah gathered all their belongings together, and all their cattle, and started for Jacob’s home without saying good-by. Off they went, over the river. And though Laban followed and begged them to come back, they would not go. Then they journeyed and they journeyed, till at last Jacob saw in the distance the hills of his own land.
Then Jacob began to remember Esau and how he had threatened to kill him. And he sent messengers to Esau to tell him that he was coming back, and to find how Esau felt. And the messengers returned and said, “Esau is coming to meet you with four hundred men.” And Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.
And that night he had a dream. He dreamed that he was wrestling with a man; he was trying to throw the man, and the man was trying to throw him; and neither could master the other. At last, as the sun rose, Jacob found that the man was an angel, and the angel said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” And Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” So the angel blessed Jacob, and he awoke. And there across the wide field was his brother Esau. And Jacob stood up and bowed down before his brother seven times, because he did not know whether Esau was a friend or an enemy. But Esau ran to meet him, and threw his arms about his neck and kissed him.
And Esau said, “Who are these with you?”