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When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
Dan and Naphtali
And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
And she said, Behold, there is my maid, Bilhah: go in to her, in order that she may bear on my knees, and I may also be built up by her.
So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.
And she gave him Bilhah her maidservant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son.
And Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son.
And Rachel said, God has done me justice, and has also heard my voice, and given me a son; therefore she called his name Dan.
Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
And Bilhah Rachel's maidservant again conceived, and bore Jacob a second son.
And Rachel said, Wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali.
Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Gad and Asher
And when Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as wife.
And when Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as wife.
And Leah said, Fortunately! and she called his name Gad.
And Leah said, Happy am I; for the daughters will call me blessed! and she called his name Asher.
One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
And Reuben went out in the days of wheat-harvest, and found mandrakes in the fields; and he brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”
Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
And she said to her, Is it [too] little that thou hast taken my husband, that thou wilt take my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy son's mandrakes.
So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah.
And when Jacob came from the fields in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in to me, for indeed I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah
And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.
And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.
And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maidservant to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.
Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
And Leah again conceived, and bore Jacob a sixth son;
and Leah said, God has endowed me with a good dowry; this time will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulun.
Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.
The Birth of Joseph
And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said.
And she conceived, and bore a son, and said, God has taken away my reproach.
And she called his name Joseph; and said, Jehovah will add to me another son.
Jacob’s Wealth Increases
Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country.
Jacob Prospers
And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my country.
And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my country.
Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”
Give [me] my wives for whom I have served thee, and my children; that I may go away, for thou knowest my service which I have served thee.
And Laban said to him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes -- I have discovered that Jehovah has blessed me for thy sake.
Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
And he said, Appoint to me thy wages, and I will give it.
Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.
And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and what thy cattle has become with me.
You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The LORD has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”
For it was little that thou hadst before me, and it is increased to a multitude, and Jehovah has blessed thee from the time I came; and now, when shall I also provide for my house?
“What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou doest this for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:
Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages.
I will pass through all thy flock to-day, to remove thence all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and [that] shall be my hire.
In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”
And my righteousness shall answer for me hereafter, when thou comest about my hire, before thy face: all that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, let that be stolen with me.
“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.”
And Laban said, Well, let it be according to thy word.
But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons,
And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the brown among the lambs, and gave [them] into the hand of his sons.
who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
And he put three days' journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock.
Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
And Jacob took fresh rods of white poplar, almond-tree, and maple; and peeled off white stripes in them, uncovering the white which was on the rods.
Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated.
And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flock, in the troughs at the watering-places where the flock came to drink, and they were ardent when they came to drink.
And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
And the flock was ardent before the rods; and the flock brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.
And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he made himself separate flocks, and did not put them with Laban's flock.
Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches.
And it came to pass whensoever the strong cattle were ardent, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might become ardent among the rods;
But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s.
but when the sheep were feeble, he put [them] not in; so the feeble were Laban's, and the strong Jacob's.