Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. "Give me sons, or I will die!" she said to Jacob.

1And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld offspring from you?"

2And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

3Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family."

3And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

4So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

4And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

5And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

6Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son," so she named him Dan.

6And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

7Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

7And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

8Rachel said, "In my wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won," and she named him Naphtali.

8And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

9When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

10Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

10And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.

11Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" and she named him Gad.

11And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

12When Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,

12And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.

13Leah said, "I am happy that the women call me happy," so she named him Asher.

13And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

14Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

14And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

15But Leah replied to her, "Isn't it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes?" "Well then," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

15And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.

16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So Jacob slept with her that night.

16And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

17God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

17And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

18Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband," and she named him Issachar.

18And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

19Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

19And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.

20"God has given me a good gift," Leah said. "This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him," and she named him Zebulun.

20And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

21And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.

22And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

23She conceived and bore a son, and she said, "God has taken away my disgrace."

23And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

24She named him Joseph and said, "May the LORD add another son to me."

24And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland.

25And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

26Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you."

26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."

27And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

28Then Laban said, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."

28And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

29So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.

29And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The LORD has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?"

30For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

31Laban asked, "What should I give you?" And Jacob said, "You don't need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock.

31And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:

32Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages.

32I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

33In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen."

33So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

34"Good," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."

34And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

35That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats--every one that had any white on it--and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them.

35And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban's flock.

36And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches.

37And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

38He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep--in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink.

38And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.

39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

40Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked sheep and the completely dark sheep in Laban's flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn't put them with Laban's sheep.

40And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.

41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches.

41And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

42As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.

42But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

43And the man became very rich. He had many flocks, female and male slaves, and camels and donkeys.

43And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.