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30 Forsooth Rachel saw, that she was unfruitful, and she had envy to her sister, and said to her husband, Give thou free children to me, (or) else I shall die. (And Rachel saw, that she was unfruitful, and she envied her sister, and said to her husband, Give thou some children to me, or else I shall die.)

To whom Jacob was wroth, and answered, Whether I am for God, which have deprived thee from the fruit of thy womb? (To whom Jacob was angry, and answered, Can I take the place of God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?)

And she said, I have an handmaid Bilhah; enter thou [in] to her that she child on my knees, and that I have sons of her. (And she said, I have a slave-girl Bilhah; sleep thou with her, so that she can bear some children, and lay them on my knees, and so I shall have sons by her.)

And she gave to him Bilhah into matrimony; and when her husband had entered [in] to her,

she conceived, and childed a son.

And Rachel said, The Lord hath deemed to me (The Lord hath judged me), and hath heard my prayer, and gave a son to me; and therefore she called his name Dan.

And again Bilhah conceived, and childed another son,

for whom Rachel said, The Lord hath made me like my sister, and I [have] waxed strong; and she called him Naphtali.

(Then) Leah feeled that she ceased to bear child, and she gave Zilpah, her handmaid (her slave-girl), to her husband.

10 And when Zilpah, after conceiving, childed a son,

11 Leah said, Blessedly (I am most fortunate); and therefore she called his name Gad.

12 Also Zilpah childed another son,

13 and Leah said, This is for my bless(ing), for all women shall say me blessed (for all women shall say that I am blessed); therefore she called him Asher.

14 Forsooth Reuben went out into the field in the time of wheat harvest, and found (some) mandrakes, which he brought to Leah, his mother. And Rachel said, Give thou to me a part of the mandrakes of thy son.

15 Leah answered, Whether it seemeth little to thee, that thou hast ravished my husband from me, no but thou take also the mandrakes of my son? (but now thou wouldest also take away my son’s mandrakes?) (And) Rachel said, The husband sleep with thee in this night, (in exchange) for the mandrakes of thy son.

16 And when Jacob came again from the field at the eventide, Leah went out into his meeting, and said, Thou shalt enter [in] to me, for I have hired thee with hire for the mandrakes of my son. He slept with her in that night; (And so when Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, Tonight thou shalt sleep with me, for I have hired thee with some of my son’s mandrakes. And so he slept with her that night;)

17 and God heard her prayers, and she conceived, and childed the fifth son;

18 and said, God hath given meed to me, for I gave mine handmaid to mine husband; and she called his name Issachar. (and she said, God hath rewarded me, for I gave my slave-girl to my husband; and so she named him Issachar.)

19 (And) Again Leah conceived, and childed the sixth son,

20 and said, The Lord hath made me rich with a good dower; also in this time mine husband shall be with me, for I have engendered six sons to him; and therefore she called his name Zebulun. (and she said, The Lord hath made me rich with a good dowry; and now my husband shall be glad to be with me, for I have borne him six sons; and so she named him Zebulun.)

21 After whom she childed a daughter, Dinah by name.

22 Also the Lord had mind on Rachel, and he heard her, and opened her womb. (And the Lord remembered Rachel, and he heard her prayers and pleadings, and opened her womb.)

23 And she conceived, and childed a son, and said, God hath (now) taken away my shame;

24 and she called his name Joseph, and said, The Lord give to me another son. (and she said, May the Lord give me another son/The Lord hath given me another son, and she named him Joseph.)

25 Soothly when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his wife’s father, Deliver thou me, that I turn again to my country, and to my land. (And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his wife’s father, Let me go, so that I can return to my country, and my land.)

26 Give thou to me my wives, and my free children, for which I have served thee, that I go (Give thou to me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, so that I can go); forsooth thou knowest the service by which I have served thee.

27 Laban said to him, Find I grace in thy sight; I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thee; (Laban said to him, Let me find grace before thee; I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake;)

28 ordain thou the meed which I shall give to thee. (tell me the reward, or the payment, which I should give thee.)

29 And Jacob answered, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession was in mine hands (and how great thy possession hath become in my hands);

30 thou haddest little before that I came to thee, and now thou art made rich, and the Lord [hath] blessed thee at mine entering; therefore it is just that I purvey sometime also for mine house (and so it is only right that I provide something for my own household, or my own family).

31 And Laban said, What shall I give to thee? And Jacob said, I will nothing (I desire nothing), that is, of thy gift, but if thou doest that that I ask, again I shall feed and keep thy sheep.

32 Go about all thy flocks, and separate thou all diverse(ly)-coloured sheep, and of spotted fleeces, and whatever thing shall be of dun hue, and spotted, and diverse of colour, as well in sheep as in goats; that shall be my meed. (Go about all thy flocks, and separate out all the diversely-coloured sheep, and those with spotted fleeces, and whichever shall be dunned, or spotted, or diverse in colour, with the sheep as well as with the goats, and those shall be my reward.)

33 And my rightfulness shall answer to me tomorrow, when the time of covenant shall come before thee; and all that be not diverse, and spotted, and dunned, as well in sheep as in goats, (that) be found at me thou shalt reprove me of theft. (And my righteousness shall answer for me later on, when the time of payment shall come before thee; and if any that be not diverse, or spotted, or dunned, with the sheep as well as with the goats, be found with me, then thou can rebuke me for theft.)

34 And Laban said, I have (it) acceptable that that thou askest. (And Laban said, I find it acceptable what thou hast suggested.)

35 And Laban separated in that day [the] goats, and sheep, goat bucks, and rams, diverse and spotted. Soothly he betook all the flock of one colour, that is, of white, and of black fleece, into the hand(s) of his sons; (And so Laban separated out that day the goats, and sheep, and goat bucks, and rams, that were diversely-coloured, or spotted. And all of the flock that had only one colour, that is, those of white, or of black fleece, he gave to his sons;)

36 and he set the space of (the) way of three days betwixt his sons, and the husband of his daughters, that fed his other flocks.

37 Therefore Jacob took green rods of poplars, and of almonds, and of planes, and in part he did away the rind(s) of them; and when the rinds were drawn away, either shaved, whiteness appeared in these that were made bare; soothly those that were whole dwelled green, and by this manner the colour was made diverse. (And so Jacob took some branches of green poplars, and of almonds, and of planes, and he partly did away their rinds; and where the rinds were drawn away, or shaved, whiteness appeared on the places that were made bare, but where the branches were not touched, they remained green; and so by this manner the colour was made diverse.)

38 And Jacob put those rods in the troughs, where the water was poured out, that when the flocks should come to drink, (And Jacob put up those branches in the troughs, where the water was poured out, so that when the flocks would come to drink,)

39 they should have the rods before their eyes, and they should conceive in [the] sight of the rods. And it was done that in that heat of riding, or engendering, the sheep should behold those rods, and that they should bring forth spotted beasts, and diverse, and besprinkled with diverse colour. (they would have the branches before their eyes, and they would conceive in front of the branches. And so it was done that in the heat of riding, or of begetting, the sheep saw those branches, and later they brought forth beasts that were spotted, and diverse, and besprinkled with diverse colour, like the branches were.)

40 And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the [water] troughs, before the eyes of the rams (And so Jacob separated out the flock, and put up the branches in the water troughs, before the eyes of the rams). Soothly all the white and [the] black were Laban’s; soothly all the others were Jacob’s; for the flocks were separated (out) betwixt themselves.

41 Therefore when the sheep were ridden in the first time, Jacob put the rods in the water troughs before the eyes of rams, and of ewe sheep, that they should conceive in the sight of the rods. (And so when the sheep were ridden by the stronger rams, Jacob put up the branches in the water troughs before the eyes of the rams, and the ewe sheep, so that they would conceive in front of the branches.)

42 Forsooth when the late mixing, or engendering, and the last conceivings were, Jacob put not (up) those rods; and those that were late engendered, were made Laban’s, and those that were of the first time engendered, were Jacob’s. (But when the weaker rams mated, Jacob did not put up the branches; and so the weaker offspring were made Laban’s, and the stronger ones were made Jacob’s.)

43 And Jacob was made full rich, and had many flocks, handmaids, and menservants, camels, and asses. (And Jacob was made very rich, and had many flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels, and donkeys.)

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.

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.

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?

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.

And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

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.

And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

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.