Bereshis 30
30
1And when Rachel saw that she did not bear [banim] to Ya'akov, Rachel had kina toward her achot; and said unto Ya'akov, Give me banim, or else I die.
2And af Ya'akov was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in place of Elohim, Who hath withheld from thee p'ri beten?
3And she said, Hinei my amah (maidservant) Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my birkayim, that I may also build up through her.
4And she gave him Bilhah her shifchah (slave woman, maidservant) as isha; and Ya'akov went in unto her.
5And Bilhah conceived, and bore Ya'akov ben.
6And Rachel said, Elohim danani (G-d hath judged me), and hath also heard my voice, and hath given to me ben: therefore called she shmo Dan.
7And Bilhah shifchat Rachel conceived again, and bore Ya'akov ben sheni.
8And Rachel said, With naftulei Elohim niftalti (with wrestlings of G-d have I wrestled) with my achot, and I have prevailed: and she called shmo Naphtali.
9When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her shifchah, and gave her to Ya'akov as isha.
10And Zilpah shifchat Leah bore Ya'akov ben.
11And Leah said, BaGad (What Good Fortune!) And she called shmo Gad.
12And Zilpah shifchat Leah bore Ya'akov ben sheni.
13And Leah said, B'Ashri (Happy am I), for the banot will call me asher (blessed): so she called shmo Asher.
14And Reuven went in the yemei ketzir chittim, and found duda'im (mandrakes) in the sadeh, and brought them unto Leah immo. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, now, of the duda'im of thy ben.
15And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my ish? And wouldest thou take away the duda'im of beni also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee halailah (tonight) for the duda'im of thy ben.
16And Ya'akov came in from the sadeh ba'erev, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with duda'im of beni. And he lay with her that night.
17And Elohim paid heed unto Leah, and she conceived, and bore Ya'akov ben chamishi.
18And Leah said, Elohim hath given me my hire, because I have given my shifchah to my ish; and she called shmo Yissakhar.
19And Leah conceived again, and bore Ya'akov ben shishi.
20And Leah said, Elohim hath endued me with a zeved tov (good endowment); now will my ish zabal (honor) me, because I have born him shisha banim; and she called shmo Zevulun.
21And afterwards she bore a bat, and called her shem Dinah.
22And Elohim remembered Rachel, and Elohim paid heed to her, and opened her rekhem (womb).
23And she conceived, and bore ben; and said, Elohim hath taken away my cherpah (shame, disgrace, reproach);
24And she called shmo Yosef; and said, yosef (may He add), may Hashem add me ben acher (another son).
25And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Yosef, that Ya'akov said unto Lavan, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own makom (place, home) and to my eretz.
26Give me my nashim and my yeladim, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my avodah which I have done thee.
27And Lavan said unto him, Now, if I have found chen (favor, grace) in thine eyes, tarry; for I have learned by nachash (divination) that Hashem hath made a brocha upon me for thy sake.
28And he said, Specify thy sachar (wages, reward), and I will pay it.
29And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy mikneh fared with me.
30For it was me'at (little) which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and Hashem hath made a brocha upon thee since my coming; and now when shall I do for mine own bais also?
31And he said, What shall I give thee? And Ya'akov said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again tend and be shomer over thy tzon.
32I will pass through all thy tzon today, removing from there speckled and spotted seh, and every dark seh among the kesavim, and the spotted and speckled among the izzim; and of such shall be my sachar.
33So shall my tzedakah answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my sachar before thy face; every one that is not speckled and spotted among the izzim, and dark among the kesavim, that shall be counted a ganavʼs with me.
34And Lavan said, Agreed, I would it might be according to thy davar.
35And he removed that day the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the izzim that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some lavan in it, and all the dark among the kesavim, and gave them into the yad of his banim.
36And he set a derech shloshet yamim between himself and Ya'akov; and Ya'akov tended the rest of the tzon Lavan.
37And Ya'akov took him fresh cut makal (rod, branch) of poplar and of almond and plane tree; and peeled strips of bark in them, and made the lavan (white) appear which was in the maklot (rods, branches).
38And he set the maklot which he had peeled before the flocks in the small channels of the shikatot mayim (watering troughs) when the tzon came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,
39And the flocks bred before the maklot, and brought forth tzon streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40And Ya'akov did separate the kesavim, and set the faces of the tzon toward the streaked, and all the dark in the tzon Lavan; and he put his own adarim (flocks) by themselves, and put them not unto the tzon Lavan.
41And it came to pass, whensoever tzon hamekusharot (the stronger flock) did breed, that Ya'akov set the maklot before the eyes of the tzon in the trough channels, that they might breed among the maklot.
42But when the tzon were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler would belong to Lavan, and the stronger to Ya'akov.
43And the ish increased exceedingly, and had much tzon, and shefachot, and avadim, and gemalim, and chamorim.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 30
30
1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.” 4So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. 5And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she called his name Dan.#30.6 That is He judged 7Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled#30.8 Heb niphtal with my sister, and have prevailed”; so she called his name Naphtali.
9When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11And Leah said, “Good fortune!” so she called his name Gad.#30.11 That is Fortune 12Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy”; so she called his name Asher.#30.13 That is Happy
14In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Give me, I pray, some of your son's mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has given me my hire#30.18 Heb sakar because I gave my maid to my husband”; so she called his name Issachar. 19And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor#30.20 Heb zabal me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she called his name Zebulun. 21Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb. 23She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; 24and she called his name Joseph,#30.24 That is He adds saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”
25When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you; 28name your wages, and I will give it.” 29Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. 30For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: 32let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35But that day Laban removed the he-goats that were striped and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; 36and he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock.
37Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. 38He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the runnels, that is, the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39the flocks bred in front of the rods and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob laid the rods in the runnels before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America