Genesis 30
1 Then Rachel, discerning that she was infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband, “Give me children, otherwise I will die.”
Rachel realized that she was not becoming pregnant and giving birth to any children for Jacob. So she became jealous of her older sister, Leah, because Leah had given birth to four sons. She said to Jacob, “Enable me to become pregnant and give birth to children. If you do not do that, I [think I will]!”
2 Jacob, being angry, responded to her, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of your womb?”
Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “(I am not God!/Am I God?) [RHQ] He is the one who has prevented you from becoming pregnant!”
3 But she said: “I have a handmaid Bilhah. Go in to her, so that she may give birth upon my knees, and I may have sons by her.”
Then she said, “Look, here is my female slave, Bilhah. (Sleep with/Have sex with) [EUP] her, so that she may become pregnant and give birth to children for me. In that way it will be as though (I have children/her children are mine).”
4 And she gave him Bilhah in marriage.
So she gave him her slave, Bilhah, to be another wife for him, and Jacob had sex [EUP] with her.
5 And when her husband had gone in to her, she conceived and bore a son.
She became pregnant and bore Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, “The Lord has judged for me, and he has heeded my voice, giving me a son.” And because of this, she called his name Dan.
Rachel said, “God has (vindicated me/judged my case and has decided that what I have done is right). He has also heard my requests and has given me a son.” So she named him Dan, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘he judged’].
7 And conceiving again, Bilhah bore another,
Later, Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son for Jacob.
8 about whom Rachel said, “God has compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed.” And she called him Naphtali.
Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle to have children like my older sister, but truly I have a son.” So she named him Naphtali, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘struggle’].
9 Leah, perceiving that she had desisted from child-bearing, delivered Zilpah, her handmaid, to her husband.
When Leah realized that she was not becoming pregnant and giving birth to any more children, she took her female slave, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob to be another wife for him.
10 And she, after having borne a son with difficulty,
Zilpah soon became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
11 said: “Happiness!” And for this reason, she called his name Gad.
Leah said, “I am truly fortunate!” So she named him Gad, [which means ‘fortunate’].
12 Likewise, Zilpah bore another.
Later Leah’s slave, Zilpah, gave birth to another son for Jacob.
13 And Leah said, “This one is for my happiness. Indeed, women will call me blessed.” Because of this, she called him Asher.
Leah said, “Now I am very happy, and people will call me happy.” So she named him Asher, [which means ‘happy].’
14 Then Reuben, going out into the field at the time of the wheat harvest, found mandrakes. These he brought to his mother Leah. And Rachel said, “Give me a portion of your son’s mandrakes.”
When it was time to harvest wheat, Reuben went out into the fields and saw some (mandrakes/plants that women eat to help them to become pregnant). He brought some of them to his mother Leah. But Rachel saw them and said to Leah, “Please give me some of those plants that your son brought to you!”
15 She responded, “Does it seem like such a small matter to you, that you have usurped from me my husband, unless you will also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel said, “He will sleep with you this night because of your son’s mandrakes.”
But Leah said to her, “No! (It was bad that you stole my husband!/Is it not bad enough that you stole my husband?) [RHQ] Now (are you going to take my son’s mandrake plants?/You want to take my son’s mandrake plants also, [so that you can become pregnant]!)” [RHQ] So Rachel said, “All right, Jacob can sleep with you tonight, if you give me some of your son’s mandrake plants.” [So Leah (agreed/gave her some)].
16 And when Jacob returned from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and she said, “You will enter to me, because I have hired you for the reward of my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night.
When Jacob returned from the wheat fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You must sleep with me tonight, because I gave Rachel some of my son’s mandrakes [that enable women to become pregnant], to pay her for allowing us to do that.” So Jacob slept with her that night.
17 And God heard her prayers. And she conceived and bore a fifth son.
God answered Leah’s prayers, and she became pregnant and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
18 And she said, “God has given a reward to me, because I gave my handmaid to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar.
Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband to be another wife for him.” So she named him Issachar, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘reward’].
19 Conceiving again, Leah bore a sixth son.
Leah became pregnant again and bore a sixth son for Jacob.
20 And she said: “God has endowed me with a good dowry. And now, at this turn, my husband will be with me, because I have conceived six sons for him.” And therefore she called his name Zebulun.
Leah said, “God has given me a precious gift. (This time/Now) my husband will honor/respect me, because I have given birth to six sons for him.” So she named him Zebulon, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘accepted gift’].
21 After him, she bore a daughter, named Dinah.
Later she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.
22 The Lord, likewise remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb.
Then God thought about what Rachel wanted. He heard her prayers and enabled her to become pregnant.
23 And she conceived and bore a son, saying, “God has taken away my reproach.”
She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has caused that no longer will I be ashamed [for not having children].”
24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “The Lord has added to me another son.”
She named him Joseph, [which sounds like the Hebrew words that mean ‘may he give another’] and she said, ‘want Yahweh to give me another son.’
25 But when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-in-law: “Release me, so that I may return to my native country and to my land.
After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now allow me to quit working for you and let me return to my own land.
26 Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served you, so that I may depart. You know the servitude with which I have served you.”
You know the work that I have done for you [for a long time to get my wives]. So let me take my wives and my children, and leave.”
27 Laban said to him: “May I find grace in your sight. I have learned by experience that God has blessed me because of you.
But Laban said to him, “If you are pleased with me, stay here, because I have found out by performing a magic ritual that Yahweh has blessed me because of what you have done for me.
28 Choose your wages, which I will give you.”
Tell me what you want me to pay you for continuing to work for me, and that is what I will pay you.”
29 But he responded: “You know how I have served you, and how great your possession became in my hands.
Jacob replied, “You know how I have worked for you, and you know that your livestock have increased greatly as I have taken care of them.
30 You had little before I came to you, and now you have achieved riches. And the Lord has blessed you since my arrival. It is just, therefore, that at some time I also should provide for my own house.”
You had only a few animals before I came here. But now you have very many, and Yahweh has caused them to increase greatly in number wherever I have taken them. But now I need to start taking care of the needs of my own family.”
31 And Laban said, “What shall I give to you?” But he said, “I want nothing. But if you will do what I ask, I will feed and guard your sheep again.
Laban replied, “What do you want me to give you?” Jacob replied, “I do not want you to pay me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me, I will continue to take care of your flocks and protect them.
32 Go around through all your flocks and separate all the sheep of variegated or spotted fleece; and whatever will be darkened or blemished or variegated, as much among the sheep as among the goats, will be my wages.
Allow me to go and look at all of your flocks today and remove from them all the speckled sheep, all the spotted sheep, and every dark-colored lamb, all the goats that are speckled, and all the goats that are spotted, [and keep them for myself]. They will be my wages.
33 And my justice will answer on my behalf tomorrow, when the time of settlement arrives before you. And all that is not variegated or blemished or darkened, as much among the sheep as among the goats, these will prove me to be a thief.”
In that way, in the future, you will be able to know whether I have been honest regarding what you have paid me. If any of my goats are neither speckled or spotted, or if any of my lambs are not dark-colored, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”
34 And Laban said, “I hold favor for this request.”
Laban agreed and said, “Okay, we will do as you have said.”
35 And on that day he separated the she-goats, and the sheep, and the he-goats, and the rams with variegations or with blemishes. But every one of the flock which was of one color, that is, of white or of black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.
But that same day Laban removed all the male goats that had black and white stripes on them or were spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled or spotted, all the goats that were partly white, and all the dark-colored lambs. He separated them and told his sons to take care of them.
36 And he established a distance of three days journey between himself and his son-in-law, who pastured the remainder of his flock.
Then he took these flocks and walked a distance of three days, in order that he could be that far from Jacob. Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Then Jacob, taking green branches of poplar, and almond, and sycamore trees, debarked them in part. And when the bark was pulled off, in the parts that were stripped, there appeared whiteness, yet the parts that were left whole, remained green. And so, in this way the color was made variegated.
Then Jacob cut some branches of (poplar, almond, and plane trees/three kinds of trees that had white wood). He peeled strips of bark from the branches, so that where the bark had been peeled off, the branches were light in color.
38 And he placed them in the troughs, where the water was poured out, so that when the flocks had arrived to drink, they would have the branches before their eyes, and in their sight they might conceive.
Then he placed the peeled branches in the troughs where they put the water for the animals to drink, so that the branches would be in front of the flocks when they came to drink.
39 And it happened that, in the very heat of joining together, the sheep looked upon the branches, and they bore the blemished and the variegated, those speckled with diverse color.
The animals also mated in front of the branches, and eventually they gave birth to animals that were speckled, or to animals that were spotted, or to animals that had black and white stripes on them.
40 And Jacob divided the flock, and he set the branches in the troughs before the eyes of the rams. Now whatever was white or black belonged to Laban, but, in truth, the others belonged to Jacob, for the flocks were dispersed among one another.
Furthermore, Jacob separated the female sheep in his flock from the other sheep and goats in Laban’s flock. And when his female sheep mated, he made them look toward the animals that belonged to Laban that had black and white stripes on them, and the dark-colored animals. He did that so that the female sheep would give birth to animals that were striped or dark-colored. By doing that, he made bigger flocks for himself, and he kept them separate from Laban’s flocks.
41 Therefore, when the first to arrive were climbing on the ewes, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams and the sheep, so that they might conceive while they were gazing upon them.
In addition, whenever the stronger female sheep were ready to mate, Jacob put some of those peeled branches in the troughs in front of them, so that they would mate in front of the branches.
42 Yet when the late arrivals and the last to conceive were let in, he did not place these. And so those that arrived late became Laban’s, and those that arrived first became Jacob’s.
But when weak animals were ready to mate, he did not put the branches in their troughs. So the weak ones became part of Laban’s flock, and the strong ones became part of Jacob’s flock.
43 And the man was enriched beyond limit, and he had many flocks, women servants and men servants, camels and donkeys.
As a result, Jacob became very rich. He owned many large flocks of sheep and goats, and many male and female slaves, and many camels and donkeys.
