³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.^{(A) 32} Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,^[a] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”^{(B) 33} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” and she named him Simeon.^{[b] 34} Again she conceived and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore he was named Levi.^{[c](C) 35} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;^[d] then she ceased bearing.^(D)

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”^{(E) 2} Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”^{(F) 3} Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.”^{(G) 4} So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.^{(H) 5} And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.^{[e](I) 7} Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” so she named him Naphtali.^[f](J)

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^{(K) 10} Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune!” So she named him Gad.^{[g] 12} Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.^[h](L)

¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”^{(M) 15} But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”^{(N) 16} When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband,” so she named him Issachar.^{[i] 19} And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun.^{[j](O) 21} Afterwards she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb.^{(P) 23} She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach,”^{(Q) 24} and she named him Joseph,^[k] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”^(R)

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for now you have another son.”^{(A) 18} As her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni,^[a] but his father called him Benjamin.^[b]