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.”

And Rachel, seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall 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?”

And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy 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 here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

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

And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

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

When her husband had gone in unto her, 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 hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son, and therefore she called his name Dan.

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

And again Bala conceived and 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.

For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephtali.

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

Lia, perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha her handmaid to her husband.

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

And when she had conceived and brought forth a son,

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

She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.

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

Zelpha also bore another.

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

And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

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.”

And Ruben, going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy 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 answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son’s mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy 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 at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for 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 the 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 said: God hath given me a reward, 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,

And Lia conceived again, and bore the 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 said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.

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

After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.

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

The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard 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 hath 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 give me also 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;

And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me away that I may return into my 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 thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

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: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

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

Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

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 answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been 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?”

Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable therefore that I should now provide also 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 thee? But he said: I require nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy 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 round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled: and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep, as among the goats, shall 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 shall answer for me tomorrow before thee when the time of the bargain shall come: and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.

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

And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

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 he separated the same day the she goats, and the sheep, and the he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted: and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and 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 set the space of three days’ journey betwixt himself and his son in law, who fed the rest 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,

And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.

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 put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out: that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

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

And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.

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 separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were Laban’s: and the rest were Jacob’s, when the flocks were separated one from the other.

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,

So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking 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.

But when the latter coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban’s: and they of the first time, 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 exceedingly, and he had many flocks, maid servants and men servants, camels and asses.