Genesis 30
English Standard Version
30 When Rachel saw that (A)she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, (B)who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant (C)Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth (D)on my behalf,[a] that even I may have children[b] through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has (E)judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.[c] 7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings[d] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name (F)Naphtali.[e]
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and (G)gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, (H)“Good fortune has come!” so she called his name (I)Gad.[f] 12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women (J)have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.[g]
14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found (K)mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.[h]
19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name (L)Zebulun.[i] 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
22 Then God (M)remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and (N)opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away (O)my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph,[j] saying, (P)“May the Lord add to me another son!”
Jacob's Prosperity
25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children (Q)for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that[k] the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 (R)Name your wages, and I will give it.” 29 Jacob said to him, (S)“You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, (T)and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I (U)provide for my own household also?” 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 pasture 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 (V)they shall be my wages. 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.” 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 the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.
37 Then (W)Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the (X)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 sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. 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 would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43 Thus the man (Y)increased greatly and (Z)had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:3 Hebrew on my knees
- Genesis 30:3 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
- Genesis 30:6 Dan sounds like the Hebrew for judged
- Genesis 30:8 Hebrew With wrestlings of God
- Genesis 30:8 Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling
- Genesis 30:11 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for good fortune
- Genesis 30:13 Asher sounds like the Hebrew for happy
- Genesis 30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages, or hire
- Genesis 30:20 Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for honor
- Genesis 30:24 Joseph means May he add, and sounds like the Hebrew for taken away
- Genesis 30:27 Or have become rich and
Genesis 30
King James Version
30 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
12 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.
19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.
32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
36 And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40 And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.
41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
Genesis 30
International Standard Version
Rachel’s Children by Bilhah
30 Rachel noticed that she was not bearing children for Jacob, so because she envied her sister Leah, she told Jacob, “If you don’t give me sons, I’m going to die!”
2 That made Jacob angry with Rachel, so he asked her, “Can I take God’s place, who has not allowed you to conceive?”[a]
3 Rachel[b] responded, “Here’s my handmaid Bilhah. Go have sex with her. She can bear children[c] on my knees so I can have children through her.”
4 So Rachel[d] gave Jacob[e] her woman servant Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob had sex with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore a son for Jacob. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore, she named him Dan.[f]
7 Rachel’s servant conceived again and bore a second son for Jacob, 8 so Rachel said, “I’ve been through a mighty struggle with my sister and won.” She named him Naphtali.[g]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took her woman servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore a son to Jacob, 11 and Leah exclaimed, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.[h]
12 Later, Leah’s servant Zilpah bore a second son for Jacob. 13 She said, “How happy I am, because women will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.[i]
Jacob and the Mandrakes
14 Some time later, during the wheat harvest season, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes[j] in the field and brought them back for his mother Leah. Then Rachel[k] told Leah, “Please give me your son’s mandrakes.”
15 In response, Leah asked her, “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes!”
But Rachel replied, “Very well, let’s let Jacob sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went to meet him and told him, “You’re having sex with me tonight. I traded my son’s mandrakes for you!” So he slept with her that night.
17 God heard what Leah had said, so she conceived and bore a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Then Leah said, “God has paid me for giving my servant to my husband as his wife.” So she named him Issachar.[l]
19 Later, Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. This time my husband will exalt me, because I’ve borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[m]
21 After that, Leah conceived, bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.
Rachel’s Son Joseph is Born
22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, 23 so she conceived, bore a son, and remarked, “God has removed my shame.” 24 Because she had been asking, “May God give me another son,” she named him Joseph.[n]
Jacob and Laban’s Livestock
25 After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, “Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country. 26 Give me my wives and children for whom I’ve served you. Then I’ll leave, since you’re aware of my service to you.”
27 Then Laban responded, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I’ve learned through divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wage, and I’ll give it to you.”
29 But Jacob replied to Laban, “You know how I’ve served you and how your cattle thrived under my care. 30 What you had previously was only a few head, but the herd has now multiplied, because the Lord has blessed you through my efforts.[o] But now, when am I going to be able to provide for my own household?”
31 “What do I have to give you?” Laban asked.
Jacob responded, “You don’t have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it. 32 Let me walk among your flocks today and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, along with every black lamb, and let me do the same with the speckled and spotted goats. These will be my wages. 33 In the future, you’ll be able to verify my honesty because, when you come to check[p] what I’ve earned, if you find a goat that’s not speckled or spotted or a sheep that’s not black, then it will have been stolen by me.”
34 “Very well,” Laban replied. “We’ll do it the way you’ve asked.” 35 That very day, Laban[q] removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted—that is, every one that had white on them—and all the black lambs and placed them into the care[r] of his sons. 36 He sent them as far away from Jacob as a three days’ journey could take them.
Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban’s flock. 37 Jacob took branches[s] from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees,[t] stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches. 38 Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink. 39 When the flocks mated in front of the branches, they would bear offspring[u] that were striped, speckled, or spotted.
40 Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban’s flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches.
42 But he didn’t put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob. 43 Therefore the man Jacob[v] prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:2 Lit. has withheld from you fruit of the womb
- Genesis 30:3 Lit. She
- Genesis 30:3 Lit. them
- Genesis 30:4 Lit. she
- Genesis 30:4 Lit. him
- Genesis 30:6 The Heb. name Dan means judge
- Genesis 30:8 The Heb. name Naphtali means my struggle
- Genesis 30:11 The Heb. name Gad means lucky
- Genesis 30:13 The Heb. name Asher means happy
- Genesis 30:14 I.e. a plant native to Canaan thought to facilitate procreation
- Genesis 30:14 Lit. she
- Genesis 30:18 The Heb. name Issachar means wages
- Genesis 30:20 The Heb. name Zebulun means exalted
- Genesis 30:24 The Heb. name Joseph means added
- Genesis 30:30 Lit. my foot
- Genesis 30:33 The Heb. lacks check
- Genesis 30:35 The Heb. lacks Laban
- Genesis 30:35 Lit. hand
- Genesis 30:37 Lit. took a rod
- Genesis 30:37 Or and plane trees; i.e. a species of trees that could readily be stripped of their bark
- Genesis 30:39 The Heb. lacks offspring
- Genesis 30:43 The Heb. lacks Jacob
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