Genesis 30

1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.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?3 And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.7 And Bilhah Rachel’s handmaid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.8 And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had left off bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob to wife.10 And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a son.11 And Leah said, Fortunate! and she called his name Gad.12 And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a second son.13 And Leah said, Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Asher.

14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away 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.16 And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for I have surely hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob a fifth son.18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.19 And Leah conceived again, and bare a sixth son to Jacob.20 And Leah said, God hath endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.23 And she conceived, and bare a son: and said, God hath taken away my reproach:24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, Jehovah add to me another son.

25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to 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 wherewith I have served thee.27 And Laban said unto him, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have divined that Jehovah hath blessed me for thy sake.28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle have fared with me.30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased unto a multitude; and Jehovah hath blessed thee whithersoever I turned: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me aught: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.32 I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.33 So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when thou shalt come concerning my hire that is before thee: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that if found with me, shall be counted stolen.34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstreaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons;36 and he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

37 And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane-tree. And peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.38 And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink.39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Laban’s flock.41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;42 but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses.

GENESIS 30

Problems between Rachel //and Leah

1 Rachel was very jealous of Leah for having children, and she said to Jacob, “I'll die if you don't give me some children!”

2 But Jacob became upset with Rachel and answered, “Don't blame me! I'm not God.”

3 “Here, take my servant Bilhah,” Rachel told him. “Have children by her, and I'll let them be born on my knees to show that they are mine.”
4 Then Rachel let Jacob marry Bilhah, 5 and they had a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan, t because she said, “God has answered my prayers. He judged in my favor and has given me a son.” 7 When Bilhah and Jacob had a second son,

8 Rachel said, “I've struggled hard with my sister, and I've won!” So she named the boy Naphtali.t
9 When Leah realized she could not have any more children, she let Jacob marry her servant Zilpah, 10 and they had a son. 11 “I'm really lucky,” Leah said, and she named the boy Gad.t 12 When they had another son,

13 Leah exclaimed, “I'm happy now, and all the women will say how happy I am.” So she named him Asher.t

Love Flowers

15 but Leah said, “It's bad enough that you stole my husband! Now you want my son's love flowers too.”
“All right,” Rachel answered. “Let me have the flowers, and you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”

16 That evening when Jacob came in from the fields, Leah told him, “You're sleeping with me tonight. I hired you with my son's love flowers.”
They slept together that night, 17 and God answered Leah's prayers by giving her a fifth son.

18 Leah shouted, “God has rewarded me for letting Jacob marry my servant,” and she named the boy Issachar.t
19 When Leah had another son, 20 she exclaimed, “God has given me a wonderful gift, and my husband will praise me for giving him six sons.” So she named the boy Zebulun.t

21 Later, Leah had a daughter and named her Dinah.
22-23 Finally, God remembered Rachel—he answered her prayer by giving her a son. “God has taken away my disgrace,” she said.

24 “I'll name the boy Joseph, t and I'll pray that the [Lord] will give me another son.”

Jacob and Laban

26 You know how hard I've worked for you, so let me take my wives and children and leave.”

27-28 But Laban told him, “If you really are my friend, stay on, and I'll pay whatever you ask. I'm suret the [Lord] has blessed me because of you.”

29 Jacob answered:
You've seen how hard I've worked for you, and you know how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.

30 You didn't have much before I came, but the [Lord] has blessed everything I have ever done for you. Now it's time for me to start looking out for my own family.

31 “How much do you want me to pay you?” Laban asked.
Then Jacob told him:
I don't want you to pay me anything. Just do one thing, and I'll take care of your sheep and goats. 32 Let me go through your flocks and herds and take the sheep and goats that are either spotted or speckledt and the black lambs. That's all you need to give me.

33 In the future you can easily find out if I've been honest. Just look and see if my animals are either spotted or speckled, or if the lambs are black. If they aren't, they've been stolen from you.
34 “I agree to that,” was Laban's response. 35 Before the end of the day, Laban had separated his spotted and speckled animals and the black lambs from the others and had put his sons in charge of them.

36 Then Laban made Jacob keep the rest of the sheep and goats at a distance of three days' journey.
37 Jacob cut branches from some poplar trees and from some almond and evergreen trees. He peeled off part of the bark and made the branches look spotted and speckled. 38 Then he put the branches where the sheep and goats would see themt while they were drinking from the water trough. The goats mated there

39 in front of the branches, and their young were spotted and speckled.

40 Some of the sheep that Jacob was keeping for Laban were already spotted. And when the others were ready to mate, he made sure that they faced in the direction of the spotted and black ones. In this way, Jacob built up a flock of sheep for himself and did not put them with the other sheep.
41 When the stronger sheep were mating near the drinking place, Jacob made sure that the spotted branches were there. 42 But he would not put out the branches when the weaker animals were mating. So Jacob got all of the healthy animals, and Laban got what was left. 43 Jacob soon became rich and successful. He owned many sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys, as well as a lot of slaves.