Genesis 30:25-43
Lexham English Bible
Jacob’s Prosperity
25 And it happened that as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and my land. 26 Give me my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” 28 And he said, “Name your wage to me and I will give it.” 29 Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.[a] 30 For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned.[b] So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?” 31 And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep them. 32 Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with[c] every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That[d] shall be my wages. 33 And my righteousness will answer for me later[e] when you come concerning my wages before you. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen if it is with me.” 34 Then Laban said, “Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word.” 35 But that day he[f] removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that had white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and put them in the charge of his sons.[g] 36 And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban’s flock. 37 Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which was on the branches. 38 And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs and in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink. 39 And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban’s flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. 41 And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches in full view[h] of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. 42 But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put them there. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger were Jacob’s. 43 And the man became exceedingly[i] rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 30:29 I.e., “How well they have done under my care”
- Genesis 30:30 Literally “to my foot”
- Genesis 30:32 Or “and”
- Genesis 30:32 Or “it”
- Genesis 30:33 Literally “on the day tomorrow”
- Genesis 30:35 That is, Laban
- Genesis 30:35 Literally “he gave into the hands of his sons”
- Genesis 30:41 Literally “before the eyes of”
- Genesis 30:43 Literally “very, very”
Genesis 30:25-43
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jacob’s Flocks Multiply
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. 26 Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go.(A) You know how hard I have worked for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”(B)
29 So Jacob said to him, “You know what I have done for you and your herds.(C) 30 For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?”
31 Laban asked, “What should I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. 32 Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. 33 In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”
34 “Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35 That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. 36 He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. 38 He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep—in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. 39 The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.(D) 40 Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep.
41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. 42 As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43 And the man became very rich.[a] He had many flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.(E)
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- Genesis 30:43 Lit The man spread out very much, very much
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