Genesis 30
30
1And when Rachel (ewe) saw that she bore Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) no children, Rachel (ewe) envied her sister; and said unto Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), Give me children, or else I die.
2And Ya’akov’s (he who holds onto the heel of) anger was kindled against Rachel (ewe): and he said, [Am] I in God-Elōhīm’s [The Living Word - The Many Powered] stead, who has withheld from youi the fruit of the womb?
3And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah (troubled; timid), go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4And she gave him Bilhah her female servant to wife: and Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) went in unto her.
5And Bilhah conceived, and bore Ya’akov a son.
6And Rachel (ewe) said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan (Judge).
7And Bilhah Rachel’s [ewe] maid conceived again, and bore Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) a second son.
8And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naftali (My Wrestling).
9When Le’ah (weary; grieved) saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah (a tickling; a sprinkle) her maid, and gave her Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) to wife.
10And Zilpah (a tickling; a sprinkle) Le’ah’s (weary; grieved) maid bore Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) a son.
11And Le’ah (weary; grieved) said, A troop comes: and she called his name Gad (troop; good fortune with much effort).
12And Zilpah, Leah’s maid bore Ya’akov a second son.
13And Le’ah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous): and she called his name Asher (happy).
14And Re’uven (behold a son) went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Le’ah (weary; grieved). Then Rachel (ewe) said to Le’ah (weary; grieved), Give me, I pray youi, of youri son’s mandrakes.
15And she said unto her, [Is it] a small matter that youi hast taken my husband? and would youi take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with youi to night for youri son’s mandrakes.
16And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) came out of the field in the evening, and Le’ah (weary; grieved) went out to meet him, and said, Youi must come in unto me; for surely I have hired youi with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] listened unto Le’ah (weary; grieved), and she conceived, and bore Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) the fifth son.
18And Le’ah said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has given me my hire, because I have given my virgin to my husband: and she called his name Yissakhar (there is recompense).
19And Le’ah conceived again, and bore Ya’akov the sixth son.
20And Le’ah said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has endued me [with] a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Z’vulun (exalted; Glorious Dwelling Place).
21And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah (judgment).
22And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] remembered Rachel (ewe), and God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] listened to her, and opened her womb.
23And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has taken away my reproach (disgrace; shame):
24And she called his name Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]); and said, The Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) shall add to me another son.
25And it came to pass, when Rachel (ewe) had born Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]), that Ya’akov said unto Lavan (to be white; white guy), Send me away, that I may go unto my own place, and to my country.
26Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served youi, and let me go: for youi know my service which I have done youi.
27And Lavan said unto him, I pray youi, if I have found favour in youri eyes, [wait: for] I have learned by experience that the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) has Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) me for youri sake.
28And he said, Appoint me youri wages, and I will give [it].
29And he said unto him, Youi know how I have served youi, and how youri cattle was with me.
30For [it was] little which youi had before I [came], and it is [now] increased unto a multitude; and the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) has Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) youi since my coming: and now when shall I provide for my own house also?
31And he said, What shall I give youi? And Ya’akov said, Youi shall not give me anything: if youi will do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep youri flock:
32I will pass through all youri flock to day, removing from there 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.
33So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before youri face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
34And Lavan (to be white; white guy) said, Behold, I would it might be according to youri word.
35And he removed that day the he goats that were marked with circular stripes and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, [and] every one that had [some] white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave [them] into the hand of his sons.
36And he set three days’ journey between himself and Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of): and Ya’akov fed the rest of Lavan’s flocks.
37And Ya’akov took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pealed white strakes in them, and made the white appear which [was] in the rods.
38And he set the rods which he had pealed 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.
39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle marked with circular stripes, speckled, and spotted.
40And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the marked with circular stripes, and all the brown in the flock of Lavan (to be white; white guy); and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Lavan’s cattle.
41And it came to pass, whenever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Ya’akov laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
42But when the cattle were feeble, he put [them] not in: so the feebler were Lavan’s, and the stronger Ya’akov’s.
43And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and donkeys.
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Genesis 30: NMV
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Genesis 30
30
1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” #1Sm 1:5–6 she said to Jacob.
2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring#30:2 Lit the fruit of the womb from you!”
3Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me#30:3 Lit bear on my knees#Gn 50:23 so that through her I too can build a family.” 4So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son,” so she named him Dan.#30:6 In Hb, the name Dan sounds like “has vindicated,” or “has judged.”
7Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God,#30:8 Or “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali.#30:8 In Hb, the name Naphtali sounds like “my wrestling.”
9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” #30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read “Good fortune has come!” and she named him Gad.#30:11 = Good Fortune
12When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,”#Lk 1:48 so she named him Asher.#30:13 = Happy
14Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field.#Sg 7:13 When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”
“Well then,” Rachel said, “he can 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 Jacob slept with her that night.
17God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar.#30:18 In Hb, the name Issachar sounds like “reward.”
19Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20“God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun.#30:20 In Hb, the name Zebulun sounds like “honored.” 21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.#Gn 29:31 23She conceived and bore a son, and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”#Is 4:1; Lk 1:25 24She named him Joseph#30:24 = He Adds and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.”#Gn 35:17
Jacob’s Flocks Multiply
25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. 26Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go.#Gn 29:18,20,27; Hs 12:12 You know how hard I have worked for you.”
27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”#Gn 29:15; 31:7,41
29So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.#Gn 31:6,38–40 30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?”
31Laban asked, “What should I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. 32Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. 33In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”
34“Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats — every one that had any white on it — and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. 36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.
37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. 38He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep — in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. 39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.#Gn 31:10–12 40Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked sheep and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep.
41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. 42As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43And the man became very rich.#30:43 Lit The man spread out very much, very much He had many flocks, female and male slaves, and camels and donkeys.#Gn 12:16; 13:2; 24:35; 26:13–14; 30:30
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