Genesis 30

1 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]!”

Now Rachel, because she had no children, was full of envy of her sister; and she said to Jacob, If you do not give me children I will not go on living.

2 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!”

But Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said, Am I in the place of God, who has kept your body from having fruit?

3 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).”

Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family by her.

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

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5 She became pregnant and bore Jacob a son.

And Bilhah became with child, and gave birth to a son.

6 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’].

Then Rachel said, God has been my judge, and has given ear to my voice, and has given me a son; so he was named Dan.

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

And again Bilhah, Rachel's servant, was with child, and gave birth to a second son.

8 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’].

And Rachel said, I have had a great fight with my sister, and I have overcome her: and she gave the child the name Naphtali.

9 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.

When it was clear to Leah that she would have no more children for a time, she gave Zilpah, her servant, to Jacob as a wife.

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

And Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a son.

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

And Leah said, It has gone well for me: and she gave him the name Gad.

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

And Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a second son.

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

And Leah said, Happy am I! and all women will give witness to my joy: and she gave him the name Asher.

14 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!”

Now at the time of the grain-cutting, Reuben saw some love-fruits in the field, and took them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to her, Let me have some of your son's love-fruits.

15 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)].

But Leah said to her, Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband from me? and now would you take my son's love-fruits? Then Rachel said, You may have him tonight in exchange for your son's love-fruits.

16 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.

In the evening, when Jacob came in from the field, Leah went out to him and said, Tonight you are to come to me, for I have given my son's love-fruits as a price for you. And he went in to her that night.

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

And God gave ear to her and she became with child, and gave Jacob a fifth son.

18 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’].

Then Leah said, God has made payment to me for giving my servant-girl to my husband: so she gave her son the name Issachar.

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

And again Leah became with child, and she gave Jacob a sixth son.

20 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’].

And she said, God has given me a good bride-price; now at last will I have my husband living with me, for I have given him six sons: and she gave him the name Zebulun.

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

After that she had a daughter, to whom she gave the name Dinah.

22 Then God thought about what Rachel wanted. He heard her prayers and enabled her to become pregnant.

Then God gave thought to Rachel, and hearing her prayer he made her fertile.

23 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].”

And she was with child, and gave birth to a son: and she said, God has taken away my shame.

24 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.’

And she gave him the name Joseph, saying, May the Lord give me another son.

25 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.

Now after the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Let me go away to my place and my country.

26 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.”

Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have been your servant, and let me go: for you have knowledge of all the work I have done for you.

27 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.

And Laban said, If you will let me say so, do not go away; for I have seen by the signs that the Lord has been good to me because of you.

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

Say then what your payment is to be and I will give it.

29 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.

Then Jacob said, You have seen what I have done for you, and how your cattle have done well under my care.

30 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.”

For before I came you had little, and it has been greatly increased; and the Lord has given you a blessing in everything I have done; but when am I to do something for my family?

31 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.

And Laban said, What am I to give you? And Jacob said, Do not give me anything; but I will again take up the care of your flock if you will only do this for me:

32 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.

Let me go through all your flock today, taking out from among them all the sheep which are marked or coloured or black, and all the marked or coloured goats: these will be my payment.

33 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.”

And so you will be able to put my honour to the test in time to come; if you see among my flocks any goats which are not marked or coloured, or any sheep which is not black, you may take me for a thief.

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

And Laban said, Let it be as you say.

35 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.

So that day he took all the he-goats which were banded or coloured, and all the she-goats which were marked or coloured or had white marks, and all the black sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons;

36 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.

And sent them three days' journey away: and Jacob took care of the rest of Laban's flock.

37 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.

Then Jacob took young branches of trees, cutting off the skin so that the white wood was seen in bands.

38 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.

And he put the banded sticks in the drinking-places where the flock came to get water; and they became with young when they came to the water.

39 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.

And because of this, the flock gave birth to young which were marked with bands of colour.

40 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.

These lambs Jacob kept separate; and he put his flock in a place by themselves and not with Laban's flock.

41 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.

And whenever the stronger ones of the flock became with young, Jacob put the sticks in front of them in the drinking-places, so that they might become with young when they saw the sticks.

42 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.

But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put the sticks before them; so that the feebler flocks were Laban's and the stronger were Jacob's.

43 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.

So Jacob's wealth was greatly increased; he had great flocks and women-servants and men-servants and camels and asses.