Genesis 30:1–21

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

²Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children ^gfrom you?”

³Then she said, “Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me ^hiso that through her I too can build a family.” ⁴So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. ⁵Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son,” and she named him Dan. ^j

⁷Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, ^kI have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali. ^l

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” ^mand she named him Gad. ⁿ

¹²When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, ¹³Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” ^oso she named him Asher. ^p

¹⁴Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. ^qWhen he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your 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,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your 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.

¹⁷God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar. ^r

¹⁹Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a 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. ^s21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.