创世记 30
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
30 拉结见自己没有给雅各生孩子，就嫉妒姐姐。她对雅各说：“你给我孩子，不然我还不如死了！” 2 雅各气愤地说：“使你不能生育的是上帝，难道我能代替上帝吗？” 3 拉结说：“你去跟我的婢女辟拉同房吧，这样她可以为我生孩子，我也可以留下后代。” 4 于是拉结把婢女辟拉给丈夫做妾，雅各和辟拉同房。 5 辟拉怀了孕，为雅各生下一个儿子。 6 拉结说：“上帝为我申了冤，也听了我的恳求，赐给我一个儿子。”拉结就给孩子取名叫但[a]。 7 拉结的婢女辟拉又怀孕，为雅各生了第二个儿子。 8 拉结说：“我跟姐姐相争，我得胜了。”她就给这孩子取名叫拿弗他利[b]。
9 利亚见自己不再生育，就把婢女悉帕给雅各做妾。 10 悉帕给雅各生了一个儿子。 11 利亚说：“真幸运！”她便给孩子取名叫迦得[c]。 12 悉帕又给雅各生了第二个儿子， 13 利亚说：“我真有福啊！妇女们会说我有福！”她就为孩子取名亚设[d]。
14 在收麦子的季节，吕便在田间找到一些风茄，拿回家给母亲利亚。拉结知道后，对利亚说：“请给我一些你儿子找到的风茄。” 15 利亚说：“你抢了我丈夫还不够吗？现在还要抢我儿子的风茄吗？”拉结回答说：“你给我风茄，今夜雅各就跟你同房。” 16 那天晚上，雅各从田间回来，利亚就出来迎接他说：“你要来跟我同房，因为我已经用儿子的风茄把你雇下来了。”于是，那天晚上雅各便跟利亚同房。 17 上帝答应利亚的祈求，使她怀孕，为雅各生了第五个儿子。 18 利亚说：“我把婢女送给丈夫做妾，现在上帝给我报酬了。”因此，她就为孩子取名叫以萨迦[e]。
19 后来，利亚又怀孕，给雅各生下第六个儿子。 20 她说：“上帝赐给我珍贵的礼物，现在我丈夫会尊重我，因为我给他生了六个儿子。”于是，她就给这个儿子取名叫西布伦[f]。 21 后来，利亚又生了一个女儿，给她取名叫底娜。
22 上帝眷顾拉结，听了她的祷告，使她可以生育。 23 她就怀孕，生了一个儿子，说：“上帝除去了我的羞辱。” 24 她给孩子取名叫约瑟[g]，又说：“愿上帝再给我添一个儿子！”
雅各与拉班的协议
25 拉结生约瑟以后，雅各对拉班说：“请让我走吧！我想回故乡， 26 请你让我和妻儿一同回去吧！她们都是我替你工作得来的，你知道我怎样努力为你工作。”
27 拉班却挽留他，说：“如果你肯赏光，请你留下来！因为我占卜得知上帝为了你的缘故才赐福给我。 28 你要多少酬劳，只管说出来，我一定会给你。”
29 雅各回答说：“你知道我怎样努力地服侍你，照顾你的牲畜。 30 我来以前，你的财产很少。上帝因为我的到来而赐福给你，使你财产大增。但我自己什么时候才能兴家立业呢？”
31 拉班问：“我该给你什么呢？”雅各说：“你不用给我什么，只要你答应一件事，我就继续照料你的羊群。 32 今天让我从你的羊群中挑出黑色或有斑点的绵羊，以及有斑点的山羊作为我的薪酬。 33 以后，如果你在给我作薪酬的羊群中发现白色的绵羊或没有斑点的山羊，就算是我偷的。这样你可以知道我是否诚实。”
34 拉班说：“好，就照你的话做！” 35 当天，拉班把有条纹或斑点的公山羊以及有斑点或夹杂白纹的母山羊，连同黑色的绵羊都挑出来，交给自己的儿子们看管。 36 然后，他离开雅各，彼此相隔三天的路程。雅各继续为他照料其余的羊。
37 雅各折下一些杨树、杏树和枫树的嫩枝，削掉部分树皮，露出白色的条纹， 38 然后把这些嫩枝插在羊喝水的水槽和水沟里。羊群来喝水时互相交配。 39 它们对着这些树枝交配，就生下有条纹和有斑点的羊羔。 40 雅各把这些羊羔分出来，使它们与拉班的羊各在一处。他把自己的羊安置在一处，不与拉班的羊搀杂在一起。 41 每当肥壮的羊交配时，雅各就把有条纹的枝子插在水沟里，使羊对着树枝交配。 42 但如果交配的羊是瘦弱的，他就不插枝子。这样，瘦弱的羊归拉班，肥壮的羊归雅各。 43 因此，雅各变得极其富有，拥有很多羊、骆驼、驴和仆婢。
Genesis 30
Easy-to-Read Version
30 Rachel saw that she was not giving Jacob any children. She became jealous of her sister Leah. So Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die!”
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “I am not God. He is the one who has caused you to not have children.”
3 Then Rachel said, “You can have my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will have a child for me.[a] Then I can be a mother through her.”
4 So Rachel gave Bilhah to her husband Jacob. He had sexual relations with Bilhah. 5 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
6 Rachel said, “God has listened to my prayer. He decided to give me a son.” So she named this son Dan.[b]
7 Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “I have fought hard to compete with my sister, and I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali.[c]
9 Leah saw that she could have no more children. So she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob. 10 Then Zilpah had a son. 11 Leah said, “I am lucky.” So she named the son Gad.[d] 12 Zilpah gave birth to another son. 13 Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy.” So she named that son Asher.[e]
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the fields and found some special flowers.[f] He brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s flowers.”
15 Leah answered, “You have already taken away my husband. Now you are trying to take away my son’s flowers.”
But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s flowers, you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”
16 Jacob came in from the fields that night. Leah saw him and went out to meet him. She said, “You will sleep with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son’s flowers.” So Jacob slept with Leah that night.
17 Then God allowed Leah to become pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son. 18 She said, “God has given me a reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named her son Issachar.[g]
19 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son. 20 She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will accept me, because I have given him six sons.” So she named this son Zebulun.[h]
21 Later, Leah gave birth to a daughter. She named her Dinah.
22 Then God heard Rachel’s prayer and made it possible for Rachel to have children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24 Rachel named the son Joseph,[i] saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”
Jacob Tricks Laban
25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now let me go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and my children. I have earned them by working for you. You know that I served you well.”
27 Laban said to him, “Please, let me say something. I know[j] that the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Tell me what I should pay you, and I will give it to you.”
29 Jacob answered, “You know that I have worked hard for you. Your flocks have grown and been well while I cared for them. 30 When I came, you had little. Now you have much, much more. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. Now it is time for me to work for myself—it is time to do things for my family.”
31 Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything! I only want you to let me do this one thing: I will go back and take care of your sheep. 32 But let me go through all your flocks today and take every lamb with spots or stripes. Let me take every black young goat and every female goat with stripes or spots. That will be my pay. 33 In the future you can easily see if I am honest. You can come to look at my flocks. If I have any goat that isn’t spotted or any sheep that isn’t black, you will know that I stole it.”
34 Laban answered, “I agree to that. We will do what you ask.” 35 But that day Laban hid all the male goats that had spots. And he hid all the female goats that had spots on them. He also hid all the black sheep. Laban told his sons to watch these sheep. 36 So the sons took all the spotted animals and led them to another place. They traveled for three days. Jacob stayed and took care of all the animals that were left.
37 Then Jacob cut green branches from poplar and almond trees. He stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them. 38 He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated in that place. 39 Then when the goats mated in front of the branches, the young that were born were spotted, striped, or black.
40 Jacob separated the spotted and the black animals from the other animals in the flock. He kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41 Any time the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes. The animals mated near those branches. 42 But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the young animals born from the weak animals were Laban’s. And the young animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43 In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many servants, camels, and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:3 she will have a child for me Literally, “she will give birth on my knees, and I, too, will have a son through her.”
- Genesis 30:6 Dan This is like the Hebrew word meaning “to decide” or “to judge.”
- Genesis 30:8 Naphtali This is like the Hebrew word meaning “my struggle.”
- Genesis 30:11 Gad This is like the Hebrew word meaning “lucky” or “fortunate.”
- Genesis 30:13 Asher This is like the Hebrew word meaning “blessed” or “happy.”
- Genesis 30:14 special flowers Or “mandrakes.” The Hebrew word means “love plant.” People thought these plants could help women have babies.
- Genesis 30:18 Issachar This is like the Hebrew word meaning “reward” or “salary.”
- Genesis 30:20 Zebulun This is like the Hebrew word meaning “praise” or “honor.”
- Genesis 30:24 Joseph This is like the Hebrew word meaning “to add.”
- Genesis 30:27 know Or “guessed,” “divined,” or “concluded.”
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