創世記 30
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
30 拉結見自己沒有給雅各生孩子，就嫉妒姐姐。她對雅各說：「你給我孩子，不然我還不如死了！」 2 雅各氣憤地說：「使你不能生育的是上帝，難道我能代替上帝嗎？」 3 拉結說：「你去跟我的婢女辟拉同房吧，這樣她可以為我生孩子，我也可以留下後代。」 4 於是拉結把婢女辟拉給丈夫做妾，雅各和辟拉同房。 5 辟拉懷了孕，為雅各生下一個兒子。 6 拉結說：「上帝為我申了冤，也聽了我的懇求，賜給我一個兒子。」拉結就給孩子取名叫但[a]。 7 拉結的婢女辟拉又懷孕，為雅各生了第二個兒子。 8 拉結說：「我跟姐姐相爭，我得勝了。」她就給這孩子取名叫拿弗他利[b]。
9 利亞見自己不再生育，就把婢女悉帕給雅各做妾。 10 悉帕給雅各生了一個兒子。 11 利亞說：「真幸運！」她便給孩子取名叫迦得[c]。 12 悉帕又給雅各生了第二個兒子， 13 利亞說：「我真有福啊！婦女們會說我有福！」她就為孩子取名亞設[d]。
14 在收麥子的季節，呂便在田間找到一些風茄，拿回家給母親利亞。拉結知道後，對利亞說：「請給我一些你兒子找到的風茄。」 15 利亞說：「你搶了我丈夫還不夠嗎？現在還要搶我兒子的風茄嗎？」拉結回答說：「你給我風茄，今夜雅各就跟你同房。」 16 那天晚上，雅各從田間回來，利亞就出來迎接他說：「你要來跟我同房，因為我已經用兒子的風茄把你雇下來了。」於是，那天晚上雅各便跟利亞同房。 17 上帝答應利亞的祈求，使她懷孕，為雅各生了第五個兒子。 18 利亞說：「我把婢女送給丈夫做妾，現在上帝給我報酬了。」因此，她就為孩子取名叫以薩迦[e]。
19 後來，利亞又懷孕，給雅各生下第六個兒子。 20 她說：「上帝賜給我珍貴的禮物，現在我丈夫會尊重我，因為我給他生了六個兒子。」於是，她就給這個兒子取名叫西布倫[f]。 21 後來，利亞又生了一個女兒，給她取名叫底娜。
22 上帝眷顧拉結，聽了她的禱告，使她可以生育。 23 她就懷孕，生了一個兒子，說：「上帝除去了我的羞辱。」 24 她給孩子取名叫約瑟[g]，又說：「願上帝再給我添一個兒子！」
雅各與拉班的協議
25 拉結生約瑟以後，雅各對拉班說：「請讓我走吧！我想回故鄉， 26 請你讓我和妻兒一同回去吧！她們都是我替你工作得來的，你知道我怎樣努力為你工作。」
27 拉班卻挽留他，說：「如果你肯賞光，請你留下來！因為我占卜得知上帝為了你的緣故才賜福給我。 28 你要多少酬勞，只管說出來，我一定會給你。」
29 雅各回答說：「你知道我怎樣努力地服侍你，照顧你的牲畜。 30 我來以前，你的財產很少。上帝因為我的到來而賜福給你，使你財產大增。但我自己什麼時候才能興家立業呢？」
31 拉班問：「我該給你什麼呢？」雅各說：「你不用給我什麼，只要你答應一件事，我就繼續照料你的羊群。 32 今天讓我從你的羊群中挑出黑色或有斑點的綿羊，以及有斑點的山羊作為我的薪酬。 33 以後，如果你在給我作薪酬的羊群中發現白色的綿羊或沒有斑點的山羊，就算是我偷的。這樣你可以知道我是否誠實。」
34 拉班說：「好，就照你的話做！」 35 當天，拉班把有條紋或斑點的公山羊以及有斑點或夾雜白紋的母山羊，連同黑色的綿羊都挑出來，交給自己的兒子們看管。 36 然後，他離開雅各，彼此相隔三天的路程。雅各繼續為他照料其餘的羊。
37 雅各折下一些楊樹、杏樹和楓樹的嫩枝，削掉部分樹皮，露出白色的條紋， 38 然後把這些嫩枝插在羊喝水的水槽和水溝裡。羊群來喝水時互相交配。 39 牠們對著這些樹枝交配，就生下有條紋和有斑點的羊羔。 40 雅各把這些羊羔分出來，使牠們與拉班的羊各在一處。他把自己的羊安置在一處，不與拉班的羊攙雜在一起。 41 每當肥壯的羊交配時，雅各就把有條紋的枝子插在水溝裡，使羊對著樹枝交配。 42 但如果交配的羊是瘦弱的，他就不插枝子。這樣，瘦弱的羊歸拉班，肥壯的羊歸雅各。 43 因此，雅各變得極其富有，擁有很多羊、駱駝、驢和僕婢。
Genesis 30
Contemporary English Version
Problems between Rachel and Leah
30 Rachel was very jealous of Leah for having children, and she said to Jacob, “I'll die if you don't give me some children!”
2 But Jacob became upset with Rachel and answered, “Don't blame me! I'm not God.”
3 “Here, take my servant Bilhah,” Rachel told him. “Have children by her, and I'll let them be born on my knees to show that they are mine.”
4 Then Rachel let Jacob marry Bilhah, 5 and they had a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan,[a] because she said, “God has answered my prayers. He judged in my favor and has given me a son.” 7 When Bilhah and Jacob had a second son, 8 Rachel said, “I've struggled hard with my sister, and I've won!” So she named the boy Naphtali.[b]
9 When Leah realized she could not have any more children, she let Jacob marry her servant Zilpah, 10 and they had a son. 11 “I'm really lucky,” Leah said, and she named the boy Gad.[c] 12 When they had another son, 13 Leah exclaimed, “I'm happy now, and all the women will say how happy I am.” So she named him Asher.[d]
Love Flowers
14 During the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben found some love flowers[e] and took them to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Leah for some of them, 15 but Leah said, “It's bad enough that you stole my husband! Now you want my son's love flowers too.”
“All right,” Rachel answered. “Let me have the flowers, and you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”
16 That evening when Jacob came in from the fields, Leah told him, “You're sleeping with me tonight. I hired you with my son's love flowers.”
They slept together that night, 17 and God answered Leah's prayers by giving her a fifth son. 18 Leah shouted, “God has rewarded me for letting Jacob marry my servant,” and she named the boy Issachar.[f]
19 When Leah had another son, 20 she exclaimed, “God has given me a wonderful gift, and my husband will praise me for giving him six sons.” So she named the boy Zebulun.[g] 21 Later, Leah had a daughter and named her Dinah.
22-23 Finally, God remembered Rachel—he answered her prayer by giving her a son. “God has taken away my disgrace,” she said. 24 “I'll name the boy Joseph,[h] and I'll pray that the Lord will give me another son.”
Jacob and Laban
25 After Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban, “Release me from our agreement[i] and let me return to my own country. 26 You know how hard I've worked for you, so let me take my wives and children and leave.”
27-28 But Laban told him, “If you really are my friend, stay on, and I'll pay whatever you ask. I'm sure[j] the Lord has blessed me because of you.”
29 Jacob answered:
You've seen how hard I've worked for you, and you know how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. 30 You didn't have much before I came, but the Lord has blessed everything I have ever done for you. Now it's time for me to start looking out for my own family.
31 “How much do you want me to pay you?” Laban asked.
Then Jacob told him:
I don't want you to pay me anything. Just do one thing, and I'll take care of your sheep and goats. 32 Let me go through your flocks and herds and take the sheep and goats that are either spotted or speckled[k] and the black lambs. That's all you need to give me. 33 In the future you can easily find out if I've been honest. Just look and see if my animals are either spotted or speckled, or if the lambs are black. If they aren't, they've been stolen from you.
34 “I agree to that,” was Laban's response. 35 Before the end of the day, Laban had separated his spotted and speckled animals and the black lambs from the others and had put his sons in charge of them. 36 Then Laban made Jacob keep the rest of the sheep and goats at a distance of three days' journey.
37 Jacob cut branches from some poplar trees and from some almond and evergreen trees. He peeled off part of the bark and made the branches look spotted and speckled. 38 Then he put the branches where the sheep and goats would see them[l] while they were drinking from the water trough. The goats mated there 39 in front of the branches, and their young were spotted and speckled.
40 Some of the sheep that Jacob was keeping for Laban were already spotted. And when the others were ready to mate, he made sure that they faced in the direction of the spotted and black ones. In this way, Jacob built up a flock of sheep for himself and did not put them with the other sheep.
41 When the stronger sheep were mating near the drinking place, Jacob made sure that the spotted branches were there. 42 But he would not put out the branches when the weaker animals were mating. So Jacob got all of the healthy animals, and Laban got what was left. 43 Jacob soon became rich and successful. He owned many sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys, as well as a lot of slaves.
Footnotes
- 30.6 Dan: In Hebrew “Dan” means “judge.”
- 30.8 Naphtali: In Hebrew “Naphtali” means “struggle” or “contest.”
- 30.11 Gad: In Hebrew “Gad” means “lucky.”
- 30.13 Asher: In Hebrew “Asher” means “happy.”
- 30.14 love flowers: Also called “mandrakes,” a flowering plant that was thought to give sexual powers.
- 30.18 Issachar: In Hebrew “Issachar” sounds like “reward.”
- 30.20 Zebulun: In Hebrew “Zebulun” sounds like “give” and “praise.”
- 30.24 Joseph: In Hebrew “Joseph” sounds like “take away” and “add.”
- 30.25 Release … agreement: Jacob had agreed to work seven years for each of Laban's two daughters (see 29.18).
- 30.27,28 I'm sure: The Hebrew says he found this out by some kind of magic, such as fortunetelling.
- 30.32 spotted or speckled: In ancient times sheep were usually white, and goats were usually black or dark brown; only a few sheep would have black spots, and only a few goats would have white spots.
- 30.38 would see them: It was believed by some that what sheep and goats saw at the time of breeding would determine the color of their young.
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