Genesis 30
The Sons of Jacob
1Now when Rachel saw that ashe bore Jacob no children, ▼▼ Lit Rachel
she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, c“Give me children, or else I die.” 2Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has dwithheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3She said, e“Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may fbear on my knees, that ▼▼ Lit from her I too may be built
,
hthrough her I too may have children.” 4So ishe gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has ▼▼ Lit judged
,
kvindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ▼▼ I.e. He judged
Dan. 7Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8So Rachel said, “With ▼▼ Lit wrestlings of God
mighty wrestlings I have ▼▼ Heb niphtal, related to Naphtali
wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. 9When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, ▼▼ Lit With fortune! Some versions read Fortune has come
“How fortunate!” So she named him ▼▼ I.e. Fortune
Gad. 12Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13Then Leah said, ▼▼ Lit With my happiness!
“Happy am I! For women rwill call me happy.” So she named him ▼▼ I.e. happy
Asher. 14Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found tmandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Then Leah said, “God has given me my ▼▼ Heb sachar, related to Issachar
wages because I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband ▼▼ Heb zabal, related to Zebulun. Some translate will honor
will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah. 22Then wGod remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and xopened her womb. 23So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has ytaken away my reproach.” 24She named him Joseph, saying, z“May the Lord ▼▼ Lit add to me; Heb Joseph
give me another son.” Jacob Prospers
25Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ab“Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. 26“Give me my wives and my children acfor whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have ▼▼ Lit served
rendered you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If now ▼▼ Lit I have found favor in your eyes
it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined afthat the Lord has blessed me on your account.” 28He ▼▼ Lit said
continued, ah“Name me your wages, and I will give it.” 29But he said to him, ai“You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have ▼▼ Lit been
fared with me. 30“For you had little before ▼▼ Lit me
I came and it has ▼▼ Lit broken forth
increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ▼▼ Lit at my foot
wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: 32let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every anspeckled and spotted sheep and every black ▼▼ Lit sheep
one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33“So my ▼▼ Lit righteousness
honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ▼▼ Lit wages which are before you
wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” 34Laban said, ▼▼ Lit Behold, would that it might be
“Good, let it be according to your word.” 35So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the ▼▼ Lit hand
care of his sons. 36And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. 37Then Jacob ▼▼ Lit took to himself
took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was ▼▼ Lit on
in the rods. 38He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they ▼▼ Or conceived
mated when they came to drink. 39So the flocks ▼▼ Or conceived
mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40Jacob separated the lambs, and ▼▼ Lit set the faces
made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41Moreover, whenever the ▼▼ Lit bound ones; i.e. firm and compact
stronger of the flock ▼▼ Or conceived
were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might ▼▼ Or conceive
mate by the rods; 42but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the ▼▼ Lit bound ones; i.e. firm and compact
stronger Jacob’s. 43So bcthe man ▼▼ Lit broke forth
became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
Copyright information for
NASB1995