Genesis 30

1 And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I 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 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from thee the fruit of the 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 And she said, Behold, there is my maid, Bilhah: go in to her, in order that she may bear on my knees, and I may also be built up 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 her maidservant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

So she gave him her slave, Bilhah, to be another wife for him, and Jacob had sex [EUP] with her.

5 And Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son.

She became pregnant and bore Jacob a son.

6 And Rachel said, God has done me justice, and has also heard my voice, and given me a son; therefore 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 Bilhah Rachel's maidservant again conceived, and bore Jacob a second son.

Later, Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son for Jacob.

8 And Rachel said, Wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed; and she called his name 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 And when Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as wife.

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 Zilpah Leah's maidservant bore Jacob a son.

Zilpah soon became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob.

11 And Leah said, Fortunately! and she called his name Gad.

Leah said, “I am truly fortunate!” So she named him Gad, [which means ‘fortunate’].

12 And Zilpah Leah's maidservant bore Jacob a second son.

Later Leah’s slave, Zilpah, gave birth to another son for Jacob.

13 And Leah said, Happy am I; for the daughters will call me blessed! and she called his name Asher.

Leah said, “Now I am very happy, and people will call me happy.” So she named him Asher, [which means ‘happy].’

14 And Reuben went out in the days of wheat-harvest, and found mandrakes in the fields; and he brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy 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 And she said to her, Is it [too] little that thou hast taken my husband, that thou wilt take my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy 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 came from the fields in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in to me, for indeed I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay 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 hearkened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.

God answered Leah’s prayers, and she became pregnant and bore a fifth son to Jacob.

18 And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maidservant 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 And Leah again conceived, and bore Jacob a sixth son;

Leah became pregnant again and bore a sixth son for Jacob.

20 and Leah said, God has endowed me with a good dowry; this time will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And 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 And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

Later she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

22 And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to 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, and said, 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; and said, Jehovah will add 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 And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my country.

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 for whom I have served thee, and my children; that I may go away, for thou knowest my service which I have served thee.

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 And Laban said to him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes — I have discovered that Jehovah has blessed me for thy sake.

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 And he said, Appoint to me thy wages, and I will give it.

Tell me what you want me to pay you for continuing to work for me, and that is what I will pay you.”

29 And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and what thy cattle has become with me.

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 For it was little that thou hadst before me, and it is increased to a multitude, and Jehovah has blessed thee from the time I came; and now, when shall I also provide for my 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 he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou doest this for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:

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 I will pass through all thy flock to-day, to remove thence all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and [that] shall be my hire.

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 righteousness shall answer for me hereafter, when thou comest about my hire, before thy face: all that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, let that be stolen with me.

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, Well, let it be according to thy word.

Laban agreed and said, “Okay, we will do as you have said.”

35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the brown among the lambs, and gave [them] into the hand 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 put three days' journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's 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 And Jacob took fresh rods of white poplar, almond-tree, and maple; and peeled off white stripes in them, uncovering the white which was on the rods.

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 set the rods which he had peeled before the flock, in the troughs at the watering-places where the flock came to drink, and they were ardent when they came to drink.

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 the flock was ardent before the rods; and the flock brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

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 separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he made himself separate flocks, and did not put them with Laban's flock.

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 And it came to pass whensoever the strong cattle were ardent, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might become ardent among the rods;

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 but when the sheep were feeble, he put [them] not in; so the feeble were Laban's, and the strong 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 increased very, very much, and had much cattle, and bondwomen, and bondmen, and camels, and asses.

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.