Genesis 30 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2 And Jacob' anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God' stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 3 And 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. 4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan. 7 And Bilhah Rachel' maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 10 And Zilpah Leah' maid bare Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. 12 And Zilpah Leah' maid bare Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher. 14 And 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' mandrakes. 15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son' mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son' mandrakes. 16 And 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' mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. 17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. 18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 20 And 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. 21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son. 25 And 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. 26 Give 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. 27 And 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. 28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it . 29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30 For 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? 31 And 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: 32 I 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. 33 So 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 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35 And 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. 36 And he set three days'journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban' flocks. 37 And 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. 38 And 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. 39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 40 And 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' cattle. 41 And 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. 42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban', and the stronger Jacob'. 43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

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.