He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation.

Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along.

But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die.

So the men did as instructed. They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls.

So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls.