Genesis 30
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. ‘Give me sons, or I will die! ’(A) she said to Jacob.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, ‘Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring[a] from you! ’
3 Then she said, ‘Here is my maid Bilhah. Go and sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me[b](B) so that through her I too can build a family.’ 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, ‘God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son,’ so she named him Dan.[c]
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, ‘In my wrestling with God,[d] I have wrestled with my sister and won,’ and she named him Naphtali.[e]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, ‘What good fortune! ’[f] and she named him Gad.[g]
12 When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13 Leah said, ‘I am happy that the women call me happy,’(C) so she named him Asher.[h]
14 Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field.(D) When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’
15 But Leah replied to her, ‘Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes? ’
‘Well then,’ Rachel said, ‘he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.’
16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, ‘You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So Jacob slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, ‘God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,’ and she named him Issachar.[i]
19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 ‘God has given me a good gift,’ Leah said. ‘This time my husband will honour me because I have borne six sons for him,’ and she named him Zebulun.[j] 21 Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.(E) 23 She conceived and bore a son, and she said, ‘God has taken away my disgrace.’(F) 24 She named him Joseph[k] and said, ‘May the Lord add another son to me.’(G)
Jacob’s Flocks Multiply
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. 26 Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go.(H) You know how hard I have worked for you.’
27 But Laban said to him, ‘If I have found favour with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.’ 28 Then Laban said, ‘Name your wages, and I will pay them.’(I)
29 So Jacob said to him, ‘You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.(J) 30 For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family? ’
31 Laban asked, ‘What should I give you? ’
And Jacob said, ‘You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. 32 Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-coloured sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. 33 In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.’
34 ‘Good,’ said Laban. ‘Let it be as you have said.’
35 That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats – every one that had any white on it – and every dark-coloured one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. 36 He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. 38 He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep – in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. 39 The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.(K) 40 Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked sheep and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep.
41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. 42 As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43 And the man became very rich.[l] He had many flocks, female and male slaves, and camels and donkeys.(L)
Footnotes
- 30:2 Lit the fruit of the womb
- 30:3 Lit bear on my knees
- 30:6 In Hb, the name Dan sounds like ‘has vindicated,’ or ‘has judged.’
- 30:8 Or ‘With mighty wrestling
- 30:8 In Hb, the name Naphtali sounds like ‘my wrestling.’
- 30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read ‘Good fortune has come! ’
- 30:11 = Good Fortune
- 30:13 = Happy
- 30:18 In Hb, the name Issachar sounds like ‘reward.’
- 30:20 In Hb, the name Zebulun sounds like ‘honoured.’
- 30:24 = He Adds
- 30:43 Lit The man spread out very much, very much
Genesis 30
Common English Bible
30 When Rachel realized that she could bear Jacob no children, Rachel became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children! If you don’t, I may as well be dead.”
2 Jacob was angry at Rachel and said, “Do you think I’m God? God alone has kept you from giving birth!”
3 She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will give birth for me. Because of her, I will also have children.” 4 So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as his wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor, heard my voice, and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.[a] 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. 8 Rachel said, “I’ve competed fiercely with my sister, and now I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.[b]
9 When Leah realized that she had stopped bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob, 11 and Leah said, “What good luck!” So she named him Gad.[c] 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a second son for Jacob, 13 and Leah said, “I’m happy now because women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.[d]
14 During the wheat harvest, Reuben found some erotic herbs[e] in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me your son’s erotic herbs.”
15 Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you’ve taken my husband? Now you want to take my son’s erotic herbs too?”
Rachel said, “For your son’s erotic herbs, Jacob[f] may sleep with you tonight.”
16 When Jacob came back from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I’ve paid for you with my son’s erotic herbs.” So he slept with her that night.
17 God responded to Leah. She became pregnant and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “God gave me what I paid for, what I deserved for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.[g] 19 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob, 20 and she said, “God has given me a wonderful gift. Now my husband will honor me since I’ve borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[h] 21 After this, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel, responded to her, and let her conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24 She named him Joseph,[i] saying to herself, May the Lord give me another son.
God blesses Jacob and Laban
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me off so that I can go to my own place and my own country. 26 Give me my wives and children whom I’ve worked for, and I will go. You know the work I’ve done for you.”
27 Laban said to him, “Do me this favor. I’ve discovered by a divine sign that the Lord has blessed me because of you, 28 so name your price and I will pay it.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I’ve worked for you, and how well your livestock have done with me. 30 While in my care, what little you had has multiplied a great deal. The Lord blessed you wherever I took your livestock.[j] Now, when will I be able to work for my own household too?”
31 Laban said, “What will I pay you?”
Jacob said, “Don’t pay me anything. If you will do this for me, I will take care of your flock again, and keep a portion.[k] 32 I will go through the entire flock today, taking out all of the speckled and spotted sheep, all of the black male lambs, and all of the spotted and speckled female goats. That will be my price. 33 I will be completely honest with you: when you come to check on our agreement, every female goat with me that isn’t speckled or spotted and every male lamb with me that isn’t black will be considered stolen.”
34 Laban said, “All right; let’s do it.” 35 However, on that very day Laban took out the striped and spotted male goats and all of the speckled and spotted female goats—any with some white in it—and all of the black male lambs, and gave them to his sons. 36 He put a three-day trip between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was watching the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took new branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees; and he peeled white stripes on them, exposing the branches’ white color. 38 He set the branches that he had peeled near the watering troughs so that they were in front of the flock when they drank, because they often mated when they came to drink. 39 When the flock mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to striped, speckled, and spotted young. 40 Jacob sorted out the lambs, turning the flock to face the striped and black ones in Laban’s flock but keeping his flock separate, setting them apart from Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the strongest of the flock mated, Jacob put the branches in front of them near the watering troughs so that they mated near the branches. 42 But he didn’t put branches up for the weakest of the flock. So the weakest became Laban’s and the strongest Jacob’s. 43 The man Jacob became very, very rich: he owned large flocks, female and male servants, camels, and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:6 Or he judged
- Genesis 30:8 Or my competition or my wrestling
- Genesis 30:11 Or good fortune
- Genesis 30:13 Or happy
- Genesis 30:14 Or mandrakes
- Genesis 30:15 Or he
- Genesis 30:18 Or there is payment
- Genesis 30:20 Or honor
- Genesis 30:24 Or he adds
- Genesis 30:30 Or them
- Genesis 30:31 Heb uncertain
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