Genesis 29:31-30:24
New American Standard Bible
31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was [a]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children. 32 Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him [b]Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has [c](A)seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “(B)Because the Lord has [d]heard that I am [e]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. 34 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become [f]attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named (C)Levi. 35 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will [g]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him [h](D)Judah. Then she stopped having children.
The Sons of Jacob
30 Now when Rachel saw that (E)she had not borne Jacob any children, [i]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “(F)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” 2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has (G)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “(H)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may (I)give birth [j]on my knees, so that [k](J)by her I too may obtain a child.” 4 So (K)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has [l](L)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him [m]Dan. 7 And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 So Rachel said, “With [n]mighty wrestling I have [o]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “[p]How fortunate!” So she named him [q]Gad. 12 And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “[r]Happy am I! For women (M)will call me happy.” So she named him [s]Asher.
14 Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found (N)mandrake fruits 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 for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. 17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my [t]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband [u]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21 Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.
22 Then (O)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and (P)opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has (Q)taken away my disgrace.” 24 And she named him Joseph, saying, “(R)May the Lord [v]give me another son.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 29:31 Lit hated
- Genesis 29:32 I.e., see, a son
- Genesis 29:32 Lit looked at
- Genesis 29:33 Heb shama, related to Simeon
- Genesis 29:33 Lit hated
- Genesis 29:34 Heb lavah, related to Levi
- Genesis 29:35 Heb Jadah, related to Judah
- Genesis 29:35 Heb Jehudah
- Genesis 30:1 Lit Rachel
- Genesis 30:3 I.e., Prob. referring to a ritual of adoption
- Genesis 30:3 Lit from her I too may be built
- Genesis 30:6 Lit judged
- Genesis 30:6 I.e., He judged
- Genesis 30:8 Lit wrestlings of God
- Genesis 30:8 Heb niphtal, related to Naphtali
- Genesis 30:11 Lit With fortune! Some ancient versions Fortune has come
- Genesis 30:11 I.e., Fortune
- Genesis 30:13 Lit With my happiness!
- Genesis 30:13 I.e., happy
- Genesis 30:18 Heb sachar, related to Issachar
- Genesis 30:20 Heb zabal, related to Zebulun
- Genesis 30:24 Lit add to me; Heb Joseph
Genesis 29:31-30:24
New Living Translation
Jacob’s Many Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. 32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[a] for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”
33 She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon,[b] for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”
34 Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi,[c] for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”
35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah,[d] for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.
30 When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me,[e] and through her I can have a family, too.” 4 So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan,[f] for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” 7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel named him Naphtali,[g] for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. 11 Leah named him Gad,[h] for she said, “How fortunate I am!” 12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah named him Asher,[i] for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”
14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”
Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
16 So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah. 17 And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 She named him Issachar,[j] for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” 19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 She named him Zebulun,[k] for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.” 21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. 24 And she named him Joseph,[l] for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”
Footnotes
- 29:32 Reuben means “Look, a son!” It also sounds like the Hebrew for “He has seen my misery.”
- 29:33 Simeon probably means “one who hears.”
- 29:34 Levi sounds like a Hebrew term that means “being attached” or “feeling affection for.”
- 29:35 Judah is related to the Hebrew term for “praise.”
- 30:3 Hebrew bear children on my knees.
- 30:6 Dan means “he judged” or “he vindicated.”
- 30:8 Naphtali means “my struggle.”
- 30:11 Gad means “good fortune.”
- 30:13 Asher means “happy.”
- 30:18 Issachar sounds like a Hebrew term that means “reward.”
- 30:20 Zebulun probably means “honor.”
- 30:24 Joseph means “may he add.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
