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Genesis 29:1-31:55

Twenty Years in Haran

Lyrics · Genesis

Twenty Years in Haran

Genesis 29:1-31:55

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Genesis collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Genesis
Collection
Genesis
Musical styles
Uncategorized
[Verse 1] Jacob reached the eastern well and Rachel came with sheep, Seven years became as days for love he chose to keep. But morning found Leah where the promised bride should be, And Laban bound another seven years to treachery. [Pre-Chorus] A house grew full of children, But longing lived beneath the family name. [Chorus] Twenty years in Haran, wages changed like sand, Still the God of Bethel prospered Jacob's hand. Through love and loss, through schemes and strain, The promise kept on growing in a foreign plain. [Verse 2] Leah bore her sons while Rachel wept for one, Handmaids joined the household till the tribes had been begun. At last God remembered Rachel, Joseph filled her arms, And spotted flocks increased despite Laban's changing terms. [Bridge] God called Jacob homeward, so the household left by night, Rachel hid the images while Laban chased in flight. A dream restrained his anger, stones became a witness line, And Mizpah held their covenant as both men left behind. [Final Chorus] Twenty years in Haran, wages changed like sand, Still the God of Bethel prospered Jacob's hand. Through love and loss, through schemes and strain, The promise left for Canaan from the foreign plain. [Outro] The stone heap watched the borders, And Jacob turned his face toward home.

Named in this songJacobRachelLeahHaranBethelCanaan

About the passage

Genesis 29: The firstborn comes first in Laban's house

Genesis 29 brings Jacob to the family he sought and then places him inside a reversal he cannot miss. At a well he finds shepherds from Haran, learns that Laban is well, meets Rachel, and reaches his mother's household with tears and relief. Kinship soon becomes employment, and Jacob offers seven years of service for Rachel, years that seem brief because of his love. The wedding feast ends with Leah in his bed instead, and morning exposes the substitution. Laban's defense appeals to the precedence of the firstborn, exactly the family issue that has followed Jacob from home. Rachel is then given with another seven years of service owed, leaving one household with two sisters and unequal love. Genesis closes by turning attention toward Leah. God sees her rejection, and the names of her first four sons give voice to affliction, hope for attachment, being heard, and finally praise.

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Genesis 30: Children, wages, and a household keeping score

Genesis 30 fills a growing household with the language of counting, bargaining, and wages. Rachel and Leah interpret births through rivalry, while Bilhah and Zilpah bear sons who become part of Israel's future without receiving equal voice in the contest around them. A bargain over mandrakes turns Jacob's presence into something negotiated for a night, yet Genesis places conception in God's hearing rather than in the plants themselves. Rachel finally bears Joseph, joining relief with a request for another son. Joseph's birth then becomes the point at which Jacob asks to go home. Laban wants him to stay because his labour has brought increase, so another agreement is built around visible markings in the flocks. Jacob acts energetically within that arrangement, but the next chapter will place the extraordinary increase inside God's attention to Laban's changing terms. By the end, Jacob has the resources of a substantial household, and success has created the next dispute over who can claim it.

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Genesis 31: A departure that requires a boundary

Genesis 31 turns a long family entanglement into a departure that must be protected by a boundary. Laban's sons treat Jacob's prosperity as their father's loss, while God commands Jacob to return and promises to be with him. Rachel and Leah, so often divided, agree that their future no longer lies in their father's house. The escape is still complicated by secrecy: Jacob leaves without warning, and Rachel takes Laban's images without Jacob's knowledge. God restrains Laban before the confrontation, but accusations and a dangerous search still follow. When the missing objects are not found, Jacob finally places twenty years of service, altered wages, heat, frost, loss, and sleepless labour into the open record. The covenant that follows is not sentimental. Stones become witnesses because trust has failed, and the central rule is that neither man cross the boundary toward the other for harm. Laban returns to his place, while Jacob continues toward his own.

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