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Genesis 30:25-43
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Genesis 30:25-43
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jacob Prospers at Laban’s Expense
25 When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.(A) 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go, for you know very well the service I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you;(B) 28 name your wages, and I will give it.”(C) 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.(D) 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”(E) 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and such shall be my wages.(F) 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”(G) 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black and put them in charge of his sons, 36 and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.(H) 38 He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban, and he put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there, so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man grew exceedingly rich and had large flocks and male and female slaves and camels and donkeys.(I)
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Genesis 30:25-43
New Living Translation
Genesis 30:25-43
New Living Translation
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[a] 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.
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- 30:27 Or I have learned by divination that.
Genesis 30:25-43
New International Version
Genesis 30:25-43
New International Version
Jacob’s Flocks Increase
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way(A) so I can go back to my own homeland.(B) 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you,(C) and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(D) please stay. I have learned by divination(E) that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”(F) 28 He added, “Name your wages,(G) and I will pay them.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you(H) and how your livestock has fared under my care.(I) 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.(J) But now, when may I do something for my own household?(K)”
31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat.(L) They will be my wages.(M) 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored,(N) will be considered stolen.(O)”
34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs,(P) and he placed them in the care of his sons.(Q) 36 Then he put a three-day journey(R) between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond(S) and plane trees(T) and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.(U) 38 Then he placed the peeled branches(V) in all the watering troughs,(W) so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat(X) and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches.(Y) And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.(Z) 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals(AA) that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat,(AB) Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,(AC) 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.(AD) 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.(AE)
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