Genesis 29:1-10

1 Therefore Jacob passed forth, and came into the east land;
2 and he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep resting beside it, for why (the) sheep were watered thereof, and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone.
3 And the custom was that when all the sheep were gathered together, they should turn away the stone, and when the flocks were watered, they should put it (back) again on the mouth of the well.
4 And Jacob said to the shepherds, Brethren, of whence be ye? Which answered, Of Haran (And they answered, We come from Haran).
5 And he asked them and said, Whether ye know Laban, the son of Nahor? (And) They said, We know him.
6 Jacob said, Is he whole? (Jacob asked, Is he well?) (And) They said, He is in (a) good state; and lo! Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his flock.
7 And Jacob said, Yet much of the day is to come, and it is not (the) time that the flocks be led again to the folds; soothly give ye drink to the sheep, and so lead ye them again to meat (and then take ye them back to the pasture).
8 Which answered, We may not till all the sheep be gathered together, and till we remove the stone from the mouth of the well, to water the flocks (then we shall water the flocks).
9 Yet (while) they spake, and lo! Rachel came with the sheep of her father.
10 And when Jacob saw her, and knew (her to be) the daughter of (Laban,) his mother's brother, and the sheep (to be) of Laban his uncle, he removed the stone with which the well was closed; and when the flock was watered,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.