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30 And Rachel seeth that she hath not borne to Jacob, and Rachel is envious of her sister, and saith unto Jacob, `Give me sons, and if there is none -- I die.'

And Jacob's anger burneth against Rachel, and he saith, `Am I in stead of God who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?'

And she saith, `Lo, my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she doth bear on my knees, and I am built up, even I, from her;'

and she giveth to him Bilhah her maid-servant for a wife, and Jacob goeth in unto her;

and Bilhah conceiveth, and beareth to Jacob a son,

and Rachel saith, `God hath decided for me, and also hath hearkened to my voice, and giveth to me a son;' therefore hath she called his name Dan.

And Bilhah, Rachel's maid-servant, conceiveth again, and beareth a second son to Jacob,

and Rachel saith, `With wrestlings of God I have wrestled with my sister, yea, I have prevailed;' and she calleth his name Napthali.

And Leah seeth that she hath ceased from bearing, and she taketh Zilpah her maid-servant, and giveth her to Jacob for a wife;

10 and Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant, beareth to Jacob a son,

11 and Leah saith, `A troop is coming;' and she calleth his name Gad.

12 And Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant, beareth a second son to Jacob,

13 and Leah saith, `Because of my happiness, for daughters have pronounced me happy;' and she calleth his name Asher.

14 And Reuben goeth in the days of wheat-harvest, and findeth love-apples in the field, and bringeth them in unto Leah, his mother, and Rachel saith unto Leah, `Give to me, I pray thee, of the love-apples of thy son.'

15 And she saith to her, `Is thy taking my husband a little thing, that thou hast taken also the love-apples of my son?' and Rachel saith, `Therefore doth he lie with thee to-night, for thy son's love-apples.'

16 And Jacob cometh in from the field at evening; and Leah goeth to meet him, and saith, `Unto me dost thou come in, for hiring I have hired thee with my son's love-apples;' and he lieth with her during that night.

17 And God hearkeneth unto Leah, and she conceiveth, and beareth to Jacob a son, a fifth,

18 and Leah saith, `God hath given my hire, because I have given my maid-servant to my husband;' and she calleth his name Issachar.

19 And conceive again doth Leah, and she beareth a sixth son to Jacob,

20 and Leah saith, `God hath endowed me -- a good dowry; this time doth my husband dwell with me, for I have borne to him six sons;' and she calleth his name Zebulun;

21 and afterwards hath she born a daughter, and calleth her name Dinah.

22 And God remembereth Rachel, and God hearkeneth unto her, and openeth her womb,

23 and she conceiveth and beareth a son, and saith, `God hath gathered up my reproach;'

24 and she calleth his name Joseph, saying, `Jehovah is adding to me another son.'

25 And it cometh to pass, when Rachel hath borne Joseph, that Jacob saith unto Laban, `Send me away, and I go unto my place, and to my land;

26 give up my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and I go; for thou -- thou hast known my service which I have served thee.'

27 And Laban saith unto him, `If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes -- I have observed diligently that Jehovah doth bless me for thy sake.'

28 He saith also, `Define thy hire to me, and I give.'

29 And he saith unto him, `Thou -- thou hast known that which I have served thee [in], and that which thy substance was with me;

30 for [it is] little which thou hast had at my appearance, and it breaketh forth into a multitude, and Jehovah blesseth thee at my coming; and now, when do I make, I also, for mine own house?'

31 And he saith, `What do I give to thee?' And Jacob saith, `Thou dost not give me anything; if thou do for me this thing, I turn back; I have delight; thy flock I watch;

32 I pass through all thy flock to-day to turn aside from thence every sheep speckled and spotted, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and speckled and spotted among the goats -- and it hath been my hire;

33 and my righteousness hath answered for me in the day to come, when it cometh in for my hire before thy face; -- every one which is not speckled and spotted among [my] goats, and brown among [my] lambs -- it is stolen with me.'

34 And Laban saith, `Lo, O that it were according to thy word;'

35 and he turneth aside during that day the ring-straked and the spotted he-goats, and all the speckled and the spotted she-goats, every one that [hath] white in it, and every brown one among the lambs, and he giveth into the hand of his sons,

36 and setteth a journey of three days between himself and Jacob; and Jacob is feeding the rest of the flock of Laban.

37 And Jacob taketh to himself a rod of fresh poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut, and doth peel in them white peelings, making bare the white that [is] on the rods,

38 and setteth up the rods which he hath peeled in the gutters in the watering troughs (when the flock cometh in to drink), over-against the flock, that they may conceive in their coming in to drink;

39 and the flocks conceive at the rods, and the flock beareth ring-straked, speckled, and spotted ones.

40 And the lambs hath Jacob parted, and he putteth the face of the flock towards the ring-straked, also all the brown in the flock of Laban, and he setteth his own droves by themselves, and hath not set them near Laban's flock.

41 And it hath come to pass whenever the strong ones of the flock conceive, that Jacob set the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, to cause them to conceive by the rods,

42 and when the flock is feeble, he doth not set [them]; and the feeble ones have been Laban's, and the strong ones Jacob's.

43 And the man increaseth very exceedingly, and hath many flocks, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses.

30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children,(A) she became jealous of her sister.(B) So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God,(C) who has kept you from having children?”(D)

Then she said, “Here is Bilhah,(E) my servant.(F) Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”(G)

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.(H) Jacob slept with her,(I) and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;(J) he has listened to my plea and given me a son.”(K) Because of this she named him Dan.[a](L)

Rachel’s servant Bilhah(M) conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”(N) So she named him Naphtali.[b](O)

When Leah(P) saw that she had stopped having children,(Q) she took her servant Zilpah(R) and gave her to Jacob as a wife.(S) 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah(T) bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”[c] So she named him Gad.[d](U)

12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me(V) happy.”(W) So she named him Asher.[e](X)

14 During wheat harvest,(Y) Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants,(Z) which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough(AA) that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”

“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”(AB)

16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”(AC) So he slept with her that night.

17 God listened to Leah,(AD) and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.”(AE) So she named him Issachar.[f](AF)

19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor,(AG) because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[g](AH)

21 Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.(AI)

22 Then God remembered Rachel;(AJ) he listened to her(AK) and enabled her to conceive.(AL) 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son(AM) and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”(AN) 24 She named him Joseph,[h](AO) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”(AP)

Jacob’s Flocks Increase

25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way(AQ) so I can go back to my own homeland.(AR) 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you,(AS) 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,(AT) please stay. I have learned by divination(AU) that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”(AV) 28 He added, “Name your wages,(AW) and I will pay them.”

29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you(AX) and how your livestock has fared under my care.(AY) 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.(AZ) But now, when may I do something for my own household?(BA)

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.(BB) They will be my wages.(BC) 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,(BD) will be considered stolen.(BE)

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,(BF) and he placed them in the care of his sons.(BG) 36 Then he put a three-day journey(BH) 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(BI) and plane trees(BJ) and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.(BK) 38 Then he placed the peeled branches(BL) in all the watering troughs,(BM) so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat(BN) and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches.(BO) And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.(BP) 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals(BQ) 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,(BR) Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,(BS) 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.(BT) 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.(BU)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 30:6 Dan here means he has vindicated.
  2. Genesis 30:8 Naphtali means my struggle.
  3. Genesis 30:11 Or “A troop is coming!”
  4. Genesis 30:11 Gad can mean good fortune or a troop.
  5. Genesis 30:13 Asher means happy.
  6. Genesis 30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.
  7. Genesis 30:20 Zebulun probably means honor.
  8. Genesis 30:24 Joseph means may he add.

And these [are] the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt: Jacob and his sons, Jacob's first-born, Reuben.

And sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

10 And sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanitess.

11 And sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

12 And sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah, (and Er and Onan die in the land of Canaan.) And sons of Pharez are Hezron and Hamul.

13 And sons of Issachar: Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

14 And sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

15 These [are] sons of Leah whom she bare to Jacob in Padan-Aram, and Dinah his daughter; all the persons of his sons and his daughters [are] thirty and three.

16 And sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

17 And sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

18 These [are] sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she beareth these to Jacob -- sixteen persons.

19 Sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

20 And born to Joseph in the land of Egypt (whom Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, hath borne to him) [are] Manasseh and Ephraim.

21 And sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

22 These [are] sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the persons [are] fourteen.

23 And sons of Dan: Hushim.

24 And sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

25 These [are] sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she beareth these to Jacob -- all the persons [are] seven.

26 All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob's sons, all the persons [are] sixty and six.

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These are the names of the sons of Israel(A) (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:

Reuben the firstborn(B) of Jacob.

The sons of Reuben:(C)

Hanok, Pallu,(D) Hezron and Karmi.(E)

10 The sons of Simeon:(F)

Jemuel,(G) Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar(H) and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

11 The sons of Levi:(I)

Gershon,(J) Kohath(K) and Merari.(L)

12 The sons of Judah:(M)

Er,(N) Onan,(O) Shelah, Perez(P) and Zerah(Q) (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan).(R)

The sons of Perez:(S)

Hezron and Hamul.(T)

13 The sons of Issachar:(U)

Tola, Puah,[a](V) Jashub[b](W) and Shimron.

14 The sons of Zebulun:(X)

Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

15 These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram,[c](Y) besides his daughter Dinah.(Z) These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.

16 The sons of Gad:(AA)

Zephon,[d](AB) Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.

17 The sons of Asher:(AC)

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah.

Their sister was Serah.

The sons of Beriah:

Heber and Malkiel.

18 These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah,(AD) whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah(AE)—sixteen in all.

19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel:(AF)

Joseph and Benjamin.(AG) 20 In Egypt, Manasseh(AH) and Ephraim(AI) were born to Joseph(AJ) by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.[e](AK)

21 The sons of Benjamin:(AL)

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.(AM)

22 These were the sons of Rachel(AN) who were born to Jacob—fourteen in all.

23 The son of Dan:(AO)

Hushim.(AP)

24 The sons of Naphtali:(AQ)

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

25 These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah,(AR) whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel(AS)—seven in all.

26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons.(AT)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 46:13 Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Puvah
  2. Genesis 46:13 Samaritan Pentateuch and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also Num. 26:24 and 1 Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Iob
  3. Genesis 46:15 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
  4. Genesis 46:16 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Num. 26:15); Masoretic Text Ziphion
  5. Genesis 46:20 That is, Heliopolis