Jacob’s Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,^(A) he enabled her to conceive,^(B) but Rachel remained childless. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(C) She named him Reuben,^[a](D) for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.^(E) Surely my husband will love me now.”

³³ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,^(F) he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.^[b](G)

³⁴ Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,^(H) because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.^[c](I)

³⁵ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^[d](J) Then she stopped having children.^(K)

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!”

² Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God,^(C) who has kept you from having children?”^(D)

³ 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)

⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.^(H) Jacob slept with her,^{(I) 5} and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ 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)

⁷ Rachel’s servant Bilhah^(M) conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”^(N) So she named him Naphtali.^[b](O)

⁹ 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)

¹⁸ As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.^[a](A) But his father named him Benjamin.^[b](B)

²² While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine^(A) Bilhah,^(B) and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

These were the sons of Jacob,^(N) who were born to him in Paddan Aram.^(O)

⁸ These are the names of the sons of Israel^(A) (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt:

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.

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

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

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) 27} With the two sons^[f] who had been born to Joseph in Egypt,^(AU) the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy^[g] in all.^(AV)