Genesis 30 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children by Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ 2 Jacob became angry with her. He said, ‘Do you think I’m God? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.’ 3 Then she said, ‘Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her so that she can have children for me. Then I too can have a family through her.’ 4 So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her. 5 And Bilhah became pregnant. She had a son by him. 6 Then Rachel said, ‘God has stood up for my rights. He has listened to my prayer and given me a son.’ So she named him Dan. 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again. She had a second son by Jacob. 8 Then Rachel said, ‘I’ve had a great struggle with my sister. Now I’ve won.’ So she named him Naphtali. 9 Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah had a son by Jacob. 11 Then Leah said, ‘What good fortune!’ So she named him Gad. 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah had a second son by Jacob. 13 Then Leah said, ‘I’m so happy! The women will call me happy.’ So she named him Asher. 14 While the wheat harvest was being gathered, Reuben went out into the fields. He found some mandrake plants. He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ 15 But Leah said to her, ‘Isn’t it enough that you took my husband away? Are you going to take my son’s mandrakes too?’ Rachel said, ‘All right. Jacob can sleep with you tonight if you give me your son’s mandrakes.’ 16 Jacob came in from the fields that evening. Leah went out to meet him. ‘You have to sleep with me tonight,’ she said. ‘I’ve traded my son’s mandrakes for that time with you.’ So he slept with her that night. 17 God listened to Leah. She became pregnant and had a fifth son by Jacob. 18 Then Leah said, ‘God has rewarded me because I gave my female servant to my husband.’ So she named the boy Issachar. 19 Leah became pregnant again. She had a sixth son by Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, ‘God has given me a priceless gift. This time my husband will treat me with honour. I’ve had six sons by him.’ So she named the boy Zebulun. 21 Some time later she had a daughter. She named her Dinah. 22 Then God listened to Rachel. He showed concern for her. He made it possible for her to have children. 23 She became pregnant and had a son. Then she said, ‘God has taken away my shame.’ 24 She said, ‘May the LORD give me another son.’ So she named him Joseph.

Jacob becomes the owner of large flocks

25 After Rachel had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, ‘Send me on my way. I want to go back to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and children. I worked for you to get them. So I’ll be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.’ 27 But Laban said to him, ‘If you are pleased with me, stay here. I’ve discovered that the LORD has blessed me because of you.’ 28 He continued, ‘Name your pay. I’ll give it to you.’ 29 Jacob said to him, ‘You know how hard I’ve worked for you. You know that your livestock has done better under my care. 30 You had only a little before I came. But that little has become a lot. The LORD has blessed you everywhere I’ve been. But when can I do something for my own family?’ 31 ‘What should I give you?’ Laban asked. ‘Don’t give me anything,’ Jacob replied. ‘Just do one thing for me. Then I’ll go on taking care of your flocks and watching over them. 32 Let me go through all your flocks today. Let me remove every speckled or spotted sheep. Let me remove every dark-coloured lamb. Let me remove every speckled or spotted goat. They will be my pay. 33 My honesty will be a witness about me in days to come. It will be a witness every time you check on what you have paid me. Suppose I have a goat that doesn’t have speckles or spots. Or suppose I have a lamb that isn’t dark coloured. Then it will be considered stolen.’ 34 ‘I agree’, said Laban. ‘Let’s do what you have said.’ 35 That same day Laban removed all the male goats that had stripes or spots. He removed all the female goats that had speckles or spots. They were the ones that had white on them. He also removed all the dark-coloured lambs. He had his sons take care of them. 36 Then he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob. But Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks. 37 Jacob took freshly cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees. He made white stripes on the branches by peeling off their bark. 38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the stone tubs where the animals drank water. He placed them there so they would be right in front of the flocks when they came to drink. The flocks were ready to mate when they came to drink. 39 So they mated in front of the branches. And the flocks gave birth to striped, speckled or spotted little ones. 40 Jacob put the little ones of the flock to one side by themselves. But he made the older ones face the striped and dark-coloured animals that belonged to Laban. In that way, he made separate flocks for himself. He didn’t put them with Laban’s animals. 41 Every time the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the branches in the stone tubs. He would place them in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches. 42 But if the animals were weak, he wouldn’t place the branches there. So the weak animals went to Laban. And the strong ones went to Jacob. 43 That’s how Jacob became very rich. He became the owner of large flocks. He also had many male and female servants. And he had many camels and donkeys.

English Standard Version

1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Ge 29:31) 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Ge 16:2; 1Sa 1:5) 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf,^[1] that even I may have children^[2] through her.” (Ge 29:29; Ge 50:23) 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.^[3] (Ge 49:16) 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings^[4] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.^[5] (Mt 4:13) 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. (Ge 29:24; Ge 30:4) 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.^[6] (Ge 49:19) 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.^[7] (Lu 1:48) 14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” (So 7:13) 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.^[8] 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.^[9] (Mt 4:13) 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. 22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. (Ge 8:1; Ge 29:31; Ps 127:3) 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” (1Sa 1:6; Isa 4:1; Lu 1:25) 24 And she called his name Joseph,^[10] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!” (Ge 35:17)

Jacob’s Prosperity

25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” (Ge 29:20; Ge 29:30) 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that^[11] the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wages, and I will give it.” (Ge 29:15) 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. (Ge 31:6; Ge 31:38) 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” (Ge 30:43; 1Ti 5:8) 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. (Ge 31:8) 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock. 37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. (Ge 31:8) 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, (Ex 2:16) 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. (Ge 24:35; Ge 26:13; Ge 30:30)