Genesis 30

1 And Rachel sees that she has not borne to Jacob, and Rachel is envious of her sister, and says to Jacob, “Give me sons, and if there is none—I die.”

Then Rachel, discerning that she was infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband, “Give me children, otherwise I will die.”

2 And Jacob’s anger burns against Rachel, and he says, “Am I in stead of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

Jacob, being angry, responded to her, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of your womb?”

3 And she says, “Behold, my handmaid Bilhah, go in to her, and she bears on my knees, and I am built up, even I, from her”;

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.”

4 and she gives Bilhah her maidservant to him for a wife, and Jacob goes in to her;

And she gave him Bilhah in marriage.

5 and Bilhah conceives, and bears a son to Jacob,

And when her husband had gone in to her, she conceived and bore a son.

6 and Rachel says, “God has decided for me, and has also listened to my voice, and gives a son to me”; therefore she has called his name Dan.

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.

7 And Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, conceives again, and bears a second son to Jacob,

And conceiving again, Bilhah bore another,

8 and Rachel says, “With wrestlings of God I have wrestled with my sister, indeed, I have prevailed”; and she calls his name Napthali.

about whom Rachel said, “God has compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed.” And she called him Naphtali.

9 And Leah sees that she has ceased from bearing, and she takes Zilpah her maidservant, and gives her to Jacob for a wife;

Leah, perceiving that she had desisted from child-bearing, delivered Zilpah, her handmaid, to her husband.

10 and Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, bears a son to Jacob,

And she, after having borne a son with difficulty,

11 and Leah says, “A troop is coming”; and she calls his name Gad.

said: “Happiness!” And for this reason, she called his name Gad.

12 And Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, bears a second son to Jacob,

Likewise, Zilpah bore another.

13 and Leah says, “Because of my happiness, for daughters have pronounced me blessed”; and she calls his name Asher.

And Leah said, “This one is for my happiness. Indeed, women will call me blessed.” Because of this, she called him Asher.

14 And Reuben goes in the days of wheat-harvest, and finds love-apples in the field, and brings them to his mother Leah, and Rachel says to Leah, “Please give to me of the love-apples of your son.”

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.”

15 And she says to her, “Is your taking my husband a little thing, that you have also taken the love-apples of my son?” And Rachel says, “He therefore lies with you tonight, for your son’s love-apples.”

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.”

16 And Jacob comes in from the field at evening; and Leah goes to meet him and says, “You come in to me, for [in] hiring I have hired you with my son’s love-apples”; and he lies with her during that night.

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.

17 And God listens to Leah, and she conceives, and bears a son to Jacob, a fifth,

And God heard her prayers. And she conceived and bore a fifth son.

18 and Leah says, “God has given my hire, because I have given my maidservant to my husband”; and she calls his name Issachar.

And she said, “God has given a reward to me, because I gave my handmaid to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar.

19 And Leah conceives again, and she bears a sixth son to Jacob,

Conceiving again, Leah bore a sixth son.

20 and Leah says, “God has endowed me—a good dowry; this time my husband dwells with me, for I have borne six sons to him”; and she calls his name Zebulun;

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.

21 and afterward she has borne a daughter, and calls her name Dinah.

After him, she bore a daughter, named Dinah.

22 And God remembers Rachel, and God listens to her, and opens her womb,

The Lord, likewise remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb.

23 and she conceives and bears a son, and says, “God has gathered up my reproach”;

And she conceived and bore a son, saying, “God has taken away my reproach.”

24 and she calls his name Joseph, saying, “YHWH is adding to me another son.”

And she called his name Joseph, saying, “The Lord has added to me another son.”

25 And it comes to pass, when Rachel has borne Joseph, that Jacob says to Laban, “Send me away, and I go to my place, and to my land;

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.

26 give up my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and I go; for you have known my service which I have served you.”

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.”

27 And Laban says to him, “Now if I have found grace in your eyes—I have observed diligently that YHWH blesses me for your sake.”

Laban said to him: “May I find grace in your sight. I have learned by experience that God has blessed me because of you.

28 He also says, “Define your hire to me, and I give.”

Choose your wages, which I will give you.”

29 And he says to him, “You have known that which I have served you [in], and that which your substance was with me;

But he responded: “You know how I have served you, and how great your possession became in my hands.

30 for [it is] little which you have had at my appearance, and it breaks forth into a multitude, and YHWH blesses you at my coming; and now, when do I make, I also, for my own house?”

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.”

31 And he says, “What do I give to you?” And Jacob says, “You do not give me anything; if you do this thing for me, I turn back; I have delight; I watch your flock;

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.

32 I pass through all your flock today to turn aside every speckled and spotted sheep from there, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and speckled and spotted among the goats—and it has been my hire;

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.

33 and my righteousness has answered for me in the day to come, when it comes in for my hire before your face—everyone which is not speckled and spotted among [my] goats, and brown among [my] lambs—it is stolen with me.”

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.”

34 And Laban says, “Behold, O that it were according to your word”;

And Laban said, “I hold favor for this request.”

35 and he turns aside during that day the striped and the spotted male goats, and all the speckled and the spotted female goats, everyone that [has] white in it, and every brown one among the lambs, and he gives into the hand of his sons,

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.

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

And he established a distance of three days journey between himself and his son-in-law, who pastured the remainder of his flock.

37 And Jacob takes to himself a rod of fresh poplar and almond and plane-tree, and peels in them white peelings, making bare the white that [is] on the rods,

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.

38 and sets up the rods which he has peeled in the gutters in the watering troughs (where the flock comes to drink), in front of the flock, that they may conceive in their coming to drink;

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.

39 and the flocks conceive at the rods, and the flock bears striped, speckled, and spotted ones.

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.

40 And Jacob has parted the lambs, and he puts the face of the flock toward the striped, also all the brown in the flock of Laban, and he sets his own droves by themselves, and has not set them near Laban’s flock.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

43 And the man increases very exceedingly, and has many flocks, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and donkeys.

And the man was enriched beyond limit, and he had many flocks, women servants and men servants, camels and donkeys.