Genesis 30
30
1Rachel saw that she was not giving birth to children for Jacob. So she envied her sister Leah. Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2Jacob became angry with her. He 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 physical 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 physical relations with her. 5She became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. 6Rachel said, “God has declared me innocent. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son.” So Rachel named this son Dan.# This name means “he has declared innocent.”
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.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “my struggle.”
9Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10Then Zilpah had a son. 11Leah said, “I am lucky.” So she named her son Gad.# This name may mean “lucky.” 12Zilpah gave birth to another son. 13Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy.” So she named that son Asher.# This name may mean “happy.”
14During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandrake# A plant which was believed to cause a woman to become pregnant. plants. He 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. 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 intimate relations with me tonight. 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. 18Leah said, “God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” So Leah named her son Issachar.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “paid for.”
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 Leah named the son Zebulun.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “honor.”
21Later Leah gave birth to a daughter. She named her Dinah.
22Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer. God made it possible for her to have children. 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24She named him Joseph.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “he adds.” 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. You know that I 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. Your flocks have grown while I cared for them. 30When I came, you had little. 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. Then I will come back and take care of your flocks. 32Today let me go through all your flocks of white sheep and black goats. I will take every spotted or speckled lamb. I will take 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. You can come to look at my flocks. If I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any sheep 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. And he took all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them). And he took all the black sheep. He told his sons to watch over them. 36Laban took these animals to a place that was three days’ journey away from Jacob. Jacob took care of all the animals that were left.
37So Jacob cut green branches from poplar, almond and plane trees. He 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 goats 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. This was so the animals 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 the animals 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.
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Genesis 30: ICB
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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.
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