Genesis 30
30
Dan and Naphtali
1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
3Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me,#30:3 Literally bear children on my knees so that through her I too can build a family.”
4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her, 5and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.#30:6 Dan means He has judged or He has vindicated.
7And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.#30:8 Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling.
Gad and Asher
9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, “How fortunate!”#30:11 Alternate MT reading (see also LXX); the other alternate reads “A troop is coming!” So she named him Gad.#30:11 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for good fortune, or alternately for band of raiders.
12When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.#30:13 Asher means happy.
14Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?”
“Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah
17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. 18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.#30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages or reward.
19Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20“God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.#30:20 Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for honor.
21After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
Joseph
22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, 23and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said. 24She named him Joseph,#30:24 Joseph means may He add. and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”
Jacob Prospers
25Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. 26Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”
27But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
29Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care. 30Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
31“What can I give you?” Laban asked.
“You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks. 32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages. 33So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”
34“Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons. 36Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40Jacob set apart the young, but made the rest face the streaked dark-colored sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and did not put them with Laban’s animals.
41Whenever the stronger females of the flock were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they would breed in front of the branches. 42But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.
43Thus Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. He owned large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.
Genesis 30
30
1When Rachel saw that she was not having children for Jacob, she envied her sister Leah. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” 2Jacob became angry with her and said, “Can I do what only God can do? He is the one who has kept you from having children.”
3Then Rachel said, “Here is my slave girl Bilhah. Have sexual relations with her so she can give birth to a child for me. Then I can have my own family through her.”
4So Rachel gave Bilhah, her slave girl, to Jacob as a wife, and he had sexual relations with her. 5She became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. 6Rachel said, “God has judged me innocent. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son,” so she named him Dan.
7Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8Rachel said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali.
9Leah saw that she had stopped having children, so she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10When Zilpah had a son, 11Leah said, “I am lucky,” so she named him Gad. 12Zilpah gave birth to another son, 13and Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.
14During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandrake plants and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15Leah answered, “You have already taken away my husband, and now you are trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”
But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you may sleep with Jacob tonight.”
16When Jacob came in from the field that night, Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You will have sexual relations with me tonight because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.
17Then God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son 18and said, “God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” So Leah named her son Issachar.
19Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son. 20She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will honor me, because I have given him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun. 21Later Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer, making it possible for her to have children. 23When she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, she said, “God has taken away my shame,” 24and she named him Joseph. Rachel said, “I wish the Lord would give me another son.”
Jacob Tricks Laban
25After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now let me go to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and my children and let me go. I have earned them by working for you, and you know that I have served you well.”
27Laban said to him, “If I have pleased you, please stay. I know the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28Tell me what I should pay you, and I will give it to you.”
29Jacob answered, “You know that I have worked hard for you, and your flocks have grown while I cared for them. 30When I came, you had little, but now you have much. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. But when will I be able to do something for my own family?”
31Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I will come back and take care of your flocks. 32Today let me go through all your flocks. I will take every speckled or spotted sheep, every black lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. That will be my pay. 33In the future you can easily see if I am honest. When you come to look at my flocks, if I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any lamb that isn’t black, you will know I stole it.”
34Laban answered, “Agreed! We will do what you ask.” 35But that day Laban took away all the male goats that had streaks or spots, all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them), and all the black sheep. He told his sons to watch over them. 36Then he took these animals to a place that was three days’ journey away from Jacob. Jacob took care of all the flocks that were left.
37So Jacob cut green branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them. 38He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated there, 39so the flocks mated in front of the branches. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled, or spotted. 40Jacob separated the young animals from the others, and he made them face the streaked and dark animals in Laban’s flock. Jacob kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41When the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes so they would mate near the branches. 42But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the animals born from the weaker animals were Laban’s, and those born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.