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
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 30
1 Rachel, seeing that it had not been granted to her to bear sons to Jacob, became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me sons, or I shall die!”
2 Jacob was irritated with Rachel and said, “Am I God? He is the one who did not grant you the fruit of the womb.”
3 She answered, “Here is my servant Bilhah; sleep with her so that she may give birth upon my knees[a] and I also may have offspring through her.”
4 She gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore a son to Jacob. 6 Rachel said, “God has been just to me and has also listened to my voice, giving me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.
7 Bilhah, the slave of Rachel, conceived a second time and bore another son to Jacob. 8 Rachel said, “I have undergone a great struggle with my sister and I have won.” Because of this she named him Naphtali.
9 Leah, seeing that she had ceased bearing children, took her slave Zilpah and gave her as a wife to Jacob. 10 Zilpah, the slave of Leah, bore Jacob a son. 11 Leah said, “What good luck!” And she named him Gad.
12 Zilpah, the slave of Leah, bore a second son to Jacob. 13 Leah said, “What joy! The women shall call me truly happy.” Therefore, she named him Asher.
14 Around the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes,[b] and he brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me a little of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah answered, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Why do you want to take away my son’s mandrakes as well?” Rachel answered, “Then he can lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 That night, when Jacob arrived from the fields, Leah went out to him and said to him, “You must sleep with me because I paid for the right to have you with my son’s mandrakes.” Thus, he slept with her that night. 17 God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. 18 Leah said, “God has rewarded me for having given my slave to my husband.” This is why she named him Issachar.
19 Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20 Leah said, “God gave me a beautiful gift. This time my husband will prefer me because I have borne him six sons.” She therefore named him Zebulun.
21 She then bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 God also remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has removed my dishonor.” 24 She named him Joseph saying, “May the Lord grant me another son.”
25 Jacob’s Means of Becoming Prosperous.[c] After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go and return to my homeland. 26 Give me my wives, for whom I have served you, and my children, so that I can leave. You know how I served you.”
27 Laban said to him, “If I have found favor with you, please stay, for through divination I have come to know that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 He added, “Establish your salary and I will give it to you.”
29 He answered, “You know how I served you and how your possessions have multiplied through my work. 30 What little you had before I arrived has grown beyond measure, and the Lord has blessed you since my arrival. But now, when will I be able to work for myself as well?”
31 Laban then said, “What must I do for you?” Jacob answered, “You do not have to do anything if you will do the following for me. I will return to pasture your flock and watch over it. 32 Today I will pass through all the animals. I will separate every dark animal from among the sheep and every goat that is spotted or speckled. This will be my salary. 33 In the future, let my honesty answer for me. When you come to verify my salary, every animal that is not speckled or spotted from among the goats and those that are not dark from among the sheep, if you find them with me, will be considered to have been robbed.”
34 Laban said, “Good, let it be as you have said.” 35 That day he removed the speckled and spotted he-goats and the speckled and spotted she-goats, all of those that had some white on them, and every sheep that was a dark color. He placed the flock in the care of his sons, 36 and he determined that there should be a distance of a three days’ journey by camel from Jacob’s flock. Jacob cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 But Jacob took fresh shoots of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and he made white[d] stripes in them by peeling the bark back down to the white core of the shoots. 38 He then took the shoots from which he had peeled the bark and he placed them in the channels, that is, in the watering troughs where the animals came to drink. They were placed where the animals could see them, and the animals mated when they came to drink. 39 Thus, the animals mated in the sight of the shoots, and the goats had kids that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.[e]
40 As for the sheep, Jacob separated them and had them face the animals that were streaked or fully dark of the flock of Laban. He put his own flock in a separate place; he did not put them together with Laban’s flock. 41 Every once in a while, the healthier animals mated, and Jacob would put the shoots in the trough where the animals could see them, so that they would mate in the sight of the shoots. 42 When the animals were weak, he did not put them there. Thus, the weak animals belonged to Laban, and those that were healthy belonged to Jacob. 43 He grew rich beyond measure and possessed great numbers of flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:3 Upon my knees: after birth a father customarily took a child on his lap to indicate it was his. Rachel appeals to this custom to show that Bilhah’s child is hers.
- Genesis 30:14 Mandrakes: the ancients regarded the mandrake or mandragora as an aphrodisiac and capable of promoting pregnancy.
- Genesis 30:25 For a long time, Laban has exploited the services of his nephew; now, despite their agreement, he deprives him of the speckled sheep and dark-colored goats to prevent him from obtaining a flock for himself. But Jacob has a trick or two up his sleeve.
- Genesis 30:37 Poplar . . . white: the Hebrew terms for these words are puns on the name Laban. As Jacob had gotten the best of Esau (whose other name, Edom, means “red”) by means of red stew (Gen 25:30), so he now tries to get the best of Laban (whose name means “white”) by means of white branches. In effect, Jacob is using Laban’s own tactic (deception) against him.
- Genesis 30:39 Jacob’s scheme works—but only because of God’s intervention (see Jacob’s own admission in Gen 31:9), not because of Jacob’s superstition.
