Genesis 29:31–35:18

³¹And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he ^wopened her womb: but Rachel was barren. ³²And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name ^||Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath ^xlooked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. ³³And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name ^||Simeon. ³⁴And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband ^ybe joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called ^||Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name ^z||Judah; and ^†left bearing.

30And when Rachel saw that ^ashe bare Jacob no children, Rachel ^benvied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. ²And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath ^cwithheld from thee the fruit of the womb? ³And she said, Behold my maid ^dBilhah, ^ego in unto her; ^fand she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also ^†have children by her. ⁴And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid ^gto wife: and Jacob went in unto her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 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. ⁷And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 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 ^hshe had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and ⁱgave her Jacob to wife. ¹⁰And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son. ¹¹And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name ^||Gad. ¹²And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son. ¹³And Leah said, ^†Happy am I, for the daughters ^kwill call me blessed: and she called his name ^||Asher. ¹⁴And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found ^lmandrakes 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. ¹⁵And she said unto her, ^mIs 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. 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. ¹⁷And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. ¹⁸And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name ^||Issachar. ¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 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. ²¹And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name ^||Dinah. ²²And God ⁿremembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and ^oopened her womb. ²³And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away ^pmy reproach: ²⁴And she called his name ^||Joseph; and said, ^qThe Lord shall add to me another son.

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, ^rfor whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. ²⁷And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, ^starry: for I have learned by experience that ^tthe Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. ²⁸And he said, ^uAppoint me thy wages, and I will give it. ²⁹And he said unto him, ^wThou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 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 ^xprovide for mine own house also? 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: 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 ^yof such shall be my hire. 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. ³⁴And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 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. ³⁶And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷And ^zJacob 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. ³⁸And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the ^agutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. ³⁹And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ^bringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 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. 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. 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 ^cincreased exceedingly, and ^dhad much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and ^ecamels, and asses.

31And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this ^aglory. ²And Jacob beheld ^bthe countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him ^†as before. ³And the Lord said unto Jacob, ^cReturn unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. ⁴And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, ⁵And said unto them, ^dI see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father ^ehath been with me. ⁶And ^fye know that with all my power I have served your father. ⁷And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ^gten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus, ^hThe speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. ⁹Thus God hath ⁱtaken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. ¹⁰And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the ^||rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. ¹¹And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and ^kgrisled: for ^lI have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. ¹³I am the God of Beth-el, ^mwhere thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: ⁿnow arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. ¹⁴And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not counted of him strangers? for ^ohe hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. ¹⁶For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

¹⁷Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; ¹⁸And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. ¹⁹And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the ^†images that were her father’s. ²⁰And Jacob stole away ^†unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. ²¹So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and ^pset his face toward the mount Gilead. ²²And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. ²³And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. ²⁴And God ^qcame to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob ^†either good or bad. ²⁵Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. ²⁶And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away ^runawares to me, and ^scarried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? ²⁷Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and ^†steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp? ²⁸And hast not suffered me ^tto kiss my sons and my daughters? ^uthou hast now done foolishly in so doing. ²⁹It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the ^wGod of your father spake unto me ^xyesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. ³⁰And now, though thou wouldest needs be…