Genesis 30
New Living Translation
30 When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me,[a] and through her I can have a family, too.” 4 So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan,[b] for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” 7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel named him Naphtali,[c] for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. 11 Leah named him Gad,[d] for she said, “How fortunate I am!” 12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah named him Asher,[e] for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”
14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”
Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
16 So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah. 17 And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 She named him Issachar,[f] for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” 19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 She named him Zebulun,[g] for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.” 21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. 24 And she named him Joseph,[h] for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”
Jacob’s Wealth Increases
25 Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country. 26 Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”
27 “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for[i] the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
29 Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. 30 You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”
31 “What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks. 32 Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. 33 In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”
34 “All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.” 35 But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons, 36 who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. 38 Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. 39 And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.
41 Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches. 42 But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. 43 As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.
Footnotes
- 30:3 Hebrew bear children on my knees.
- 30:6 Dan means “he judged” or “he vindicated.”
- 30:8 Naphtali means “my struggle.”
- 30:11 Gad means “good fortune.”
- 30:13 Asher means “happy.”
- 30:18 Issachar sounds like a Hebrew term that means “reward.”
- 30:20 Zebulun probably means “honor.”
- 30:24 Joseph means “may he add.”
- 30:27 Or I have learned by divination that.
Genesis 30
Revised Geneva Translation
30 And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”
2 Then Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
3 And she said, “Behold my maid, Bilhah. Go into her; and she shall bear upon my knees. And I, also, shall have children by her.”
4 Then she gave him Bilhah, her maid, to wife; and Jacob went into her.
5 So Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Then Rachel said, “God has given sentence on my side, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore, she called his name, Dan.
7 And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have gotten the upper hand.” And she called his name, Naphtali.
9 And when Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob a son.
11 Then Leah said, “A company comes.” And she called his name, Gad.
12 Again Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob another son.
13 Then Leah said, “Ah, blessed am I. For the daughters will bless me.” And she called his name, Asher.
14 Now, Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest 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.”
15 But she answered her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” Then Rachel said, “Therefore, he shall sleep with you tonight, for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 And Jacob came from the field in the evening. And Leah went out to meet him, and said, “Come into me, for I have bought and paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night.
17 And God heard Leah, and she conceived, and bore to Jacob a fifth son.
18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my maid to my husband.” And she called his name, Issachar.
19 After, Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons.” And she called his name, Zebulun.
21 After that, she bore a daughter; and she called her name, Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel; and God heard her and opened her womb.
23 So she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my rebuke.”
24 And she called his name, Joseph, saying, “The LORD will give me yet another son.”
25 And as soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away so that I may go to my place and to my country.
26 “Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you know what service I have done you.”
27 To whom Laban answered, “If I have now found favor in your sight. I have perceived that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.”
28 Also, he said, “Name your wages and I will give it to you.”
29 But he said to him, “You know what service I have done you, and in what state your cattle has been under me.
30 “For the little that you had before I came has increased into a multitude. And the LORD has blessed you by my coming. But now, when shall I work for my own house also?”
31 Then he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob answered, “You shall give me nothing at all. If you will do this thing for me, I will return, feed, and keep your sheep.
32 “I will pass through all your flocks today, separate from them all the sheep with little spots and great spots and all black lambs among the sheep, and the great spotted, and little spotted among the goats. And that shall be my wages.
33 “So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when my reward comes before your face. Every one that has no little or great spots among the goats, or is black among the sheep, the same shall be considered stolen if with me.
34 Then Laban said, “Go to! Would that it might be according to your saying.”
35 Therefore, the same day, he took out the male goats that were parti-colored and with great spots, and all the female goats with little and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the black among the sheep, and put them in the keeping of his sons.
36 And he set three days journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob kept the rest of Laban’s sheep.
37 Then Jacob took rods of green poplar, and of hazel, and of the chestnut tree, and peeled white strips in them, and made the white appear in the rods.
38 Then he put the rods which he had peeled in the gutters and watering troughs where the sheep came to drink, so they could conceive (for they were in heat, when they came to drink).
39 And the sheep were in heat before the rods; and they brought forth young of parti-color and with small and great spots.
40 And Jacob parted these lambs and turned the faces of the flock toward the parti-colored and all manner of black among the sheep of Laban. So, he put his own flock by themselves, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 And in every ramming time of the stronger sheep, Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the gutters, so that they might conceive before the rods.
42 But when the sheep were feeble, he did not put them in. And so, the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
43 So the man increased exceedingly, and had many flocks, and maid servants, and men servants, and camels, and donkeys.
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