Genesis 30
30
Jacob’s Children
1When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, “Give me children—if not, I will die!” 2And Jacob became angry#Literally “became hot of nose” with Rachel. And he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3Then she said, “Here is my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children as my surrogate.#Literally “upon my knees” Then I will even have children#Literally “be built up” by her.” 4Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her 5And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7And Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob. 8And Rachel said, “I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed.” And she called his name Naphtali. 9When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob. 11Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” And she called his name Gad. 12And Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, bore a second son to Jacob. 13Then Leah said, “How happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.
14And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15And she said to her, “Is your taking my husband such a small thing that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?” Then Rachel said, “Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, “Come in to me, for I have hired#Literally “I have fully paid for” you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night. 17And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18Then Leah said, “God has given me my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar. 19And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun. 21And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah. 22Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb. 23And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24And she called his name Joseph, saying, “Yahweh has added to me another son.”
Jacob’s Prosperity
25And it happened that as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and my land. 26Give me my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you.” 27But Laban said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” 28And he said, “Name your wage to me and I will give it.” 29Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.#I.e., “How well they have done under my care” 30For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned.#Literally “to my foot” So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?” 31And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep them. 32Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with#Or “and” every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That#Or “it” shall be my wages. 33And my righteousness will answer for me later#Literally “on the day tomorrow” when you come concerning my wages before you. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen if it is with me.” 34Then Laban said, “Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word.” 35But that day he#That is, Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that had white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and put them in the charge of his sons.#Literally “he gave into the hands of his sons” 36And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban’s flock. 37Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which was on the branches. 38And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs and in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink. 39And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban’s flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. 41And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches in full view#Literally “before the eyes of” of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. 42But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put them there. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger were Jacob’s. 43And the man became exceedingly#Literally “very, very” rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.
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Genesis 30: LEB
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Berĕshith (Genesis) 30
30
1And when Raḥĕl saw that she bore Ya‛aqoḇ no children, Raḥĕl envied her sister, and said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Give me children, or else I am going to die!”
2And Ya‛aqoḇ’s displeasure burned against Raḥĕl, and he said, “Am I in the place of Elohim, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
3And she said, “See, my female servant Bilhah; go in to her, and let her bear for me, and let me be built up from her as well.”
4So she gave him Bilhah her female servant as wife, and Ya‛aqoḇ went in to her.
5And Bilhah conceived and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a son.
6And Raḥĕl said, “Elohim has rightly ruled my case, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” So she called his name Dan.
7And Raḥĕl’s female servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a second son.
8And Raḥĕl said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have overcome.” So she called his name Naphtali.
9And Lĕ’ah saw that she had ceased bearing, and she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Ya‛aqoḇ as wife.
10And Lĕ’ah’s female servant Zilpah bore Ya‛aqoḇ a son.
11And Lĕ’ah said, “Fortune comes!” So she called his name Gaḏ.#Heb. Gaḏ, meaning fortune.
12And Lĕ’ah’s female servant Zilpah bore Ya‛aqoḇ a second son.
13And Lĕ’ah said, “I am happy, for the daughters shall call me happy.” So she called his name Ashĕr.#Heb. - Ashĕr, meaning happy.
14And Re’uḇĕn went in the days of wheat harvest and found love-apples in the field, and brought them to his mother Lĕ’ah. And Raḥĕl said to Lĕ’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s love-apples.”
15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s love-apples too?” And Raḥĕl said, “Therefore let him lie with you tonight for your son’s love-apples.”
16And when Ya‛aqoḇ came out of the field in the evening, Lĕ’ah went out to meet him and said, “Do come in to me, for indeed, I have hired you with my son’s love-apples.” And he lay with her that night.
17And Elohim listened to Lĕ’ah, and she conceived and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a fifth son.
18And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has given me my hire, because I have given my female servant to my husband.” So she called his name Yissasḵar.
19And Lĕ’ah conceived again and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a sixth son.
20And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has presented me with a good present. Now my husband is going to dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zeḇulun.
21And afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22And Elohim remembered Raḥĕl, and Elohim listened to her and opened her womb.
23And she conceived, and bore a son, and said, “Elohim has taken away my reproach.”
24So she called his name Yosĕph, and said, “יהוה has added to me another son.”
25And it came to be, when Raḥĕl had borne Yosĕph, that Ya‛aqoḇ said to Laḇan, “Send me on my way, to go to my own place and to my land.
26Give my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go, for you yourself know my service which I have done for you.
27And Laḇan said to him, “If please I have found favour in your eyes, stay, for I have divined that יהוה has blessed me for your sake.”
28And he said, “Name me your wages, and I give it.”
29So he said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
30For the little you had before I came has increased greatly, and יהוה has blessed you since my coming. But now, when am I to provide for my own house too?
31And he said, “What do I give you?” And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “Give me naught! If you do this for me, I shall again feed and guard your flocks:
32“Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the black ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. And these shall be my wages.
33“And my righteousness shall answer for me in time to come, when you come concerning my wages: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the lambs, it is stolen if it is with me.”
34And Laḇan said, “See, let it be according to your word!”
35And on that day he set aside the male goats that were speckled and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the black ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
36And he put three days’ journey between himself and Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ fed the rest of Laḇan’s flocks.
37And Ya‛aqoḇ took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.
38And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, and they conceived when they came to drink.
39So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40And Ya‛aqoḇ separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laḇan, but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laḇan’s flock.
41And it came to be, whenever the strong ones of the flock conceived, that Ya‛aqoḇ placed the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, so they would conceive among the rods.
42But when the flocks were weak, he did not put them in, so the weak ones were Laḇan’s and the strong ones Ya‛aqoḇ’s.
43Thus the man increased very much, and had many flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
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