Genesis 30
30
1And when Rahel saw that she bare Iaakob no children, Rahel enuied her sister, and said vnto Iaakob, Giue me children, or els I dye. 2Then Iaakobs anger was kindled against Rahel, and he sayde, Am I in Gods steade, which hath withholden from thee the fruite of the wombe? 3And she said, Behold my maide Bilhah, goe in to her, and she shall beare vpon my knees, and I shall haue children also by her. 4Then shee gaue him Bilhah her mayde to wife, and Iaakob went in to her. 5So Bilhah conceiued and bare Iaakob a sonne. 6Then said Rahel, God hath giuen sentence on my side, and hath also heard my voyce, and hath giuen mee a sonne: therefore called shee his name, Dan. 7And Bilhah Rahels maide coceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the second sonne. 8Then Rahel said, with excellent wrestlings haue I wrestled with my sister, and haue gotten the vpper hande: and shee called his name, Naphtali. 9And when Leah saw that she had left bearing, shee tooke Zilpah her mayde, and gaue her Iaakob to wife. 10And Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob a sonne. 11Then sayd Leah, A companie commeth: and she called his name, Gad. 12Againe Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob another sonne. 13Then sayde Leah, Ah, blessed am I, for the daughters will blesse me. and she called his name, Asher. 14Nowe Reuben went in the dayes of the wheateharuest, and founde mandrakes in the fielde and brought them vnto his mother Leah. Then sayde Rahel to Leah, Giue me, I pray thee, of thy sonnes mandrakes. 15But shee answered her, Is it a small matter for thee to take mine husband, except thou take my sonnes mandrakes also? Then sayde Rahel, Therefore he shall sleepe with thee this night for thy sonnes mandrakes. 16And Iaakob came from the fielde in the euening, and Leah went out to meete him, and sayde, Come in to mee, for I haue bought and payed for thee with my sonnes mandrakes: and he slept with her that night. 17And God heard Leah and shee conceiued, and bare vnto Iaakob the fift sonne. 18Then said Leah, God hath giuen me my reward, because I gaue my mayde to my husband, and she called his name Issachar. 19After, Leah conceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the sixt sonne. 20Then Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowrie: nowe will mine husband dwell with me, because I haue borne him sixe sonnes: and she called his name Zebulun. 21After that, shee bare a daughter, and shee called her name Dinah. 22And God remembred Rahel, and God heard her, and opened her wombe. 23So she conceiued and bare a sonne, and said, God hath taken away my rebuke. 24And shee called his name Ioseph, saying, The Lord wil giue me yet another sonne. 25And assoone as Rahel had borne Ioseph, Iaakob said to Laban, Sende me away that I may go vnto my place and to my countrey. 26Giue me my wiues and my children, for whom I haue serued thee, and let me go: for thou knowest what seruice I haue done thee. 27To whom Laban answered, If I haue nowe found fauour in thy sight tarie: I haue perceiued that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 28Also he said, Appoynt vnto me thy wages, and I will giue it thee. 29But he sayd vnto him, Thou knowest, what seruice I haue done thee, and in what taking thy cattell hath bene vnder me. 30For the litle, that thou haddest before I came, is increased into a multitude: and the Lord hath blessed thee by my comming: but nowe when shall I trauell for mine owne house also? 31Then he saide, What shall I giue thee? And Iaakob answered, Thou shalt giue mee nothing at all: if thou wilt doe this thing for mee, I will returne, feede, and keepe thy sheepe. 32I wil passe through all thy flockes this day, and separate from them all the sheepe with litle spots and great spots, and al blacke lambes among the sheepe, and the great spotted, and litle spotted among the goates: and it shalbe my wages. 33So shall my righteousnesse answere for me hereafter, when it shall come for my rewarde before thy face, and euery one that hath not litle or great spots among the goates, and blacke among the sheepe, the same shalbe theft with me. 34Then Laban sayde, Goe to, woulde God it might be according to thy saying. 35Therefore he tooke out the same day the hee goates that were partie coloured and with great spots, and all the shee goates with litle and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the blacke among the sheepe, and put them in the keeping of his sonnes. 36And hee set three dayes iourney betweene himselfe and Iaakob. And Iaakob kept the rest of Labans sheepe. 37Then Iaakob tooke rods of greene popular, and of hasell, and of the chesnut tree, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appeare in the rods. 38Then he put the rods, which he had pilled, in the gutters and watering troughes, when the sheepe came to drink, before the sheepe. (for they were in heate, when they came to drinke) 39And the sheepe were in heate before the rods, and afterward brought forth yong of partie colour, and with small and great spots. 40And Iaakob parted these lambes, and turned the faces of the flocke towardes these lambes partie coloured and all maner of blacke, among the sheepe of Laban: so hee put his owne flockes by themselues, and put them not with Labans flocke. 41And in euery ramming time of the stronger sheepe, Iaakob layde the rods before the eyes of the sheepe in the gutters, that they might conceiue before the rods. 42But when the sheepe were feeble, hee put them not in: and so the feebler were Labans, and the stronger Iaakobs. 43So the man increased exceedingly, and had many flockes, and maide seruantes, and men seruants, and camels and asses.
Currently Selected:
Genesis 30: GNV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 30
30
1Rachel saw that she was not giving Jacob any children. She became jealous of her sister Leah. So Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die!”
2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “I am not God. He is the one who has caused you to not have children.”
3Then Rachel said, “You can have my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will have a child for me.#30:3 she will have a child for me Literally, “she will give birth on my knees, and I, too, will have a son through her.” Then I can be a mother through her.”
4So Rachel gave Bilhah to her husband Jacob. He had sexual relations with Bilhah. 5She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
6Rachel said, “God has listened to my prayer. He decided to give me a son.” So she named this son Dan.#30:6 Dan This is like the Hebrew word meaning “to decide” or “to judge.”
7Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8Rachel said, “I have fought hard to compete with my sister, and I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali.#30:8 Naphtali This is like the Hebrew word meaning “my struggle.”
9Leah saw that she could have no more children. So she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob. 10Then Zilpah had a son. 11Leah said, “I am lucky.” So she named the son Gad.#30:11 Gad This is like the Hebrew word meaning “lucky” or “fortunate.” 12Zilpah gave birth to another son. 13Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy.” So she named that son Asher.#30:13 Asher This is like the Hebrew word meaning “blessed” or “happy.”
14During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the fields and found some special flowers.#30:14 special flowers Or “mandrakes.” The Hebrew word means “love plant.” People thought these plants could help women have babies. He brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s flowers.”
15Leah answered, “You have already taken away my husband. Now you are trying to take away my son’s flowers.”
But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s flowers, you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”
16Jacob came in from the fields that night. Leah saw him and went out to meet him. She said, “You will sleep with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son’s flowers.” So Jacob slept with Leah that night.
17Then God allowed Leah to become pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son. 18She said, “God has given me a reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named her son Issachar.#30:18 Issachar This is like the Hebrew word meaning “reward” or “salary.”
19Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son. 20She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will accept me, because I have given him six sons.” So she named this son Zebulun.#30:20 Zebulun This is like the Hebrew word meaning “praise” or “honor.”
21Later, Leah gave birth to a daughter. She named her Dinah.
22Then God heard Rachel’s prayer and made it possible for Rachel to have children. 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24Rachel named the son Joseph,#30:23-24 Joseph This is like the Hebrew word meaning “to add.” saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”
Jacob Tricks Laban
25After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now let me go back to my own homeland. 26Give me my wives and my children. I have earned them by working for you. You know that I served you well.”
27Laban said to him, “Please, let me say something. I know#30:27 know Or “guessed,” “divined,” or “concluded.” that 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 and been well while I cared for them. 30When I came, you had little. Now you have much, much more. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. Now it is time for me to work for myself—it is time to do things for my family.”
31Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything! I only want you to let me do this one thing: I will go back and take care of your sheep. 32But let me go through all your flocks today and take every lamb with spots or stripes. Let me take every black young goat and every female goat with stripes or spots. 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 spotted or any sheep that isn’t black, you will know that I stole it.”
34Laban answered, “I agree to that. We will do what you ask.” 35But that day Laban hid all the male goats that had spots. And he hid all the female goats that had spots on them. He also hid all the black sheep. Laban told his sons to watch these sheep. 36So the sons took all the spotted animals and led them to another place. They traveled for three days. Jacob stayed and took care of all the animals that were left.
37Then Jacob cut green branches from poplar and almond trees. He stripped 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 in that place. 39Then when the goats mated in front of the branches, the young that were born were spotted, striped, or black.
40Jacob separated the spotted and the black animals from the other animals in the flock. He kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41Any time the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes. The animals mated near those branches. 42But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the young animals born from the weak animals were Laban’s. And the young animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many servants, camels, and donkeys.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International