Genesis 30:1-13

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”^{(A) 2} Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”^{(B) 3} Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.”^{(C) 4} So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.^{(D) 5} And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.^{[a](E) 7} Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” so she named him Naphtali.^[b](F)

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^{(G) 10} Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune!” So she named him Gad.^{[c] 12} Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.^[d](H)