Genesis 30:1-30 ▼

1 And Rachel saw that she was not bearing children to Jacob, and Rachel was envious of her sister and she said to Jacob, “Give to me sons, and if not, I will die.”

2 And the anger of Jacob burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

3 And she said, “Behold, my maidservant Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear children on my knees, and I also shall be built up from her.”

4 And she gave to him Bilhah her maidservant for a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5 And Bilhah conceived, and bore to Jacob a son.

6 And Rachel said, “God has judged me, and He has also heard my voice, and has given to me a son.” Upon thus she called his name Dan.

7 And Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel, conceived again, and bore a second son to Jacob.

8 And Rachel said, “With wrestlings of God I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” And she called his name Naphtali.

9 And Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, and she took Zilpah her maidservant, and gave her to Jacob for a wife.

10 And Zilpah, the maidservant of Leah, bore to Jacob a son.

11 And Leah said, “How fortunate!” And she called his name Gad.

12 And Zilpah, the maidservant of Leah, bore a second son to Jacob.

13 And Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me happy.” And she called his name Asher.

14 And Reuben went in the days of the harvest of wheat, and he found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, “Please give to me some of the mandrakes of your son.”

15 And she said to her, “Is it a small matter your taking my husband, that you would also take the mandrakes of my son?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for the mandrakes of your son.”

16 And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and she said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with the mandrakes of my son.” And he lay with her that night.

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

18 And Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I have given my maidservant to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar.

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore a sixth son to Jacob.

20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me—me—with a good endowment; this time my husband will honor me, for I have borne to him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun.

21 And afterward she bore a daughter, and she called her name Dinah.

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

23 And she conceived, and she bore a son and she said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May YHWH add to me another son.”

25 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 land.

26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and I will go. For you—you know my service which I have served you.”

27 And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes. I have learned by divination that YHWH has blessed me for your sake.”

28 And he said, “Specify your wage to me, and I will give it.”

29 And he said to him, “You—you know how I have served you, and how your livestock has been with me.

30 For little was what you had before me, and it has burst forth into a multitude, and YHWH has blessed you at my foot. And now, when shall I provide also for my own house?”