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.

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 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, [Am] I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

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

3 And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

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 And she gave him Bilhah, her handmaid, for a wife: and Jacob went in to her.

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

5 And Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son.

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

6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan.

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 And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son.

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

8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

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 saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her Jacob for a wife.

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 And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a son.

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

11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

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

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

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

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

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

14 And Reuben went, in the days of wheat-harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

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 And she said to her, [Is it] a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away 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, 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 And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in to me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay 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 And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob the fifth son.

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

18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

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 And Leah conceived again, and bore Jacob the sixth son.

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

20 And Leah said, God hath endowed me [with] a good dower; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

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 And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

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

22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and rendered her fruitful.

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

23 And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

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

24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD will add to me another son.

And she gave him the name Joseph, saying, May the Lord 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 own place, and to my country.

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

26 Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

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 And Laban said to him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, [tarry: for] I have learned by experience, that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

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

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

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

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

30 For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came], and it is [now] increased to a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for my own house also?

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 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:

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 I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and [of such] shall be my hire.

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 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me.

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 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

And Laban said, Let it be as you say.

35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted; every one that had [some] white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave [them] into the hands of his sons.

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 And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed 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 And Jacob took to him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut-tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which [was] in the rods.

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

38 And he set the rods, which he had peeled, before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive 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 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted.

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

40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks towards the ring-streaked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban: and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not with Laban's cattle.

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

41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger cattle conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

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 the cattle were feeble, he put [them] not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

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 And the man increased exceedingly, and had many cattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses.

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