Genesis 29:31–35:18

Jacob Becomes the Father of Many Children

³¹The Lord saw that Jacob didn’t love Leah as much as he loved Rachel. So he let Leah have children. But Rachel wasn’t able to have children. ³²Leah became pregnant. She had a son. She named him Reuben. She said, “The Lord has seen me suffer. Certainly my husband will love me now.”

³³She became pregnant again. She had a son. Then she said, “The Lord heard that Jacob doesn’t love me very much. That’s why the Lord gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.

³⁴She became pregnant again. She had a son. Then she said, “Now at last my husband will want me. I have had three sons by him.” So the boy was named Levi.

³⁵She became pregnant again. She had a son. Then she said, “This time I’ll praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

30Rachel saw that she couldn’t have any children by Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

²Jacob became angry with her. He said, “Do you think I’m God? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.”

³Then she said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Make love to her so that she can have children for me. Then I too can have a family through her.”

⁴So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob made love to her. ⁵And Bilhah became pregnant. She had a son by him. ⁶Then 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.

⁷Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again. She had a second son by Jacob. ⁸Then Rachel said, “I’ve had a great struggle with my sister. Now I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.

⁹Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Leah’s servant Zilpah had a son by Jacob. ¹¹Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him Gad.

¹²Leah’s servant Zilpah had a second son by Jacob. ¹³Then Leah said, “I’m so happy! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

¹⁴While 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.”

¹⁵But 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 make love to you tonight if you give me your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶Jacob came in from the fields that evening. Leah went out to meet him. “You have to sleep with me tonight,” she said. “I’ve bought you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he made love to her that night.

¹⁷God listened to Leah. She became pregnant and had a fifth son by Jacob. ¹⁸Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me because I gave my female servant to my husband.” So she named the boy Issachar.

¹⁹Leah became pregnant again. She had a sixth son by Jacob. ²⁰Then Leah said, “God has given me a priceless gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor. I’ve had six sons by him.” So she named the boy Zebulun.

²¹Some time later she had a daughter. She named her Dinah.

²²Then God listened to Rachel. He showed concern for her. He made it possible for her to have children. ²³She became pregnant. She had a son. She said, “God has taken my shame away.” ²⁴She continued, “May the Lord give me another son.” So she named him Joseph.

Jacob’s Flocks Increase Their Numbers

²⁵After 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. ²⁶Give 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.”

²⁷But Laban said to him, “If you are pleased with me, stay here. I’ve discovered that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸He continued, “Name your pay. I’ll give it to you.”

²⁹Jacob said to him, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you. You know that your livestock has done better under my care. ³⁰You 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 of your flocks today. Let me remove every sheep that has speckles or spots on it. Let me remove every dark-colored lamb. Let me remove every goat that has spots or speckles on it. They will be my pay.

³³“My honesty will give witness about me in days to come. It will give 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-colored. Then it will be considered stolen.”

³⁴“I agree,” said Laban. “Let’s do what you have said.”

³⁵That same day Laban removed all of the male goats that had stripes or spots. He removed all of the female goats that had speckles or spots. They were the ones that had white on them. He also removed all of the dark-colored lambs. He had his sons take care of them.

³⁶Then he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob. But Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Jacob took branches that were freshly cut from poplar, almond and plane trees. He made white stripes on them by peeling off the bark. He uncovered the white wood inside the branches.

³⁸Then he placed the peeled branches in all of the stone tubs where the animals drank water. He placed them 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. ³⁹So they mated in front of the branches. And they had little ones that were striped or speckled or spotted. ⁴⁰Jacob put the little ones of the flock to one side by themselves. But he made the older ones face the striped and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. In that way, he made separate flocks for himself. He didn’t put them with Laban’s animals.

⁴¹Every 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.

⁴²But 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.

⁴³In this way, 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.

Jacob Runs Away From Laban

31Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying. “Jacob has taken everything our father owned,” they said. “He has gained all of this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

²Jacob noticed that Laban’s feelings toward him had changed.

³Then the Lord spoke to Jacob. He said, “Go back to your father’s land and to your relatives. I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah. He told them to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

⁵He said to them, “I see that your father’s feelings toward me have changed. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I’ve worked for your father with all of my strength.

⁷“But your father has cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. In spite of everything that’s happened, God hasn’t let him harm me. ⁸Sometimes Laban would say, ‘The speckled ones will be your pay.’ Then all the flocks had little ones with speckles. At other times he would say, ‘The striped ones will be your pay.’ Then all the flocks had little ones with stripes. ⁹So God has taken away your father’s livestock and given it to me.

¹⁰“Once during the mating season I had a dream. In my dream I looked up and saw male goats mating with the flock. The goats had stripes, speckles or spots.

¹¹“The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²He said, ‘Look up. See the male goats mating with the flock. All of them have stripes, speckles or spots. That is because I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you.

¹³“ ‘I am the God of Bethel. That is where you poured oil on a pillar. There you made a promise to me. Now leave this land. Go back to your own land.’ ”

¹⁴Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in our father’s property? ¹⁵Doesn’t our father think of us as strangers? First he sold us. Now he has used up what he was paid for us. ¹⁶All of the wealth God took away from our father really belongs to us and our children. So do what God has told you to do.”

¹⁷Then Jacob put his children and wives on camels. ¹⁸He drove all of his livestock ahead of him. He also took with him everything he had gotten in Paddan Aram. He left to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹Laban had gone to clip the wool from his sheep. While he was gone, Rachel stole the statues of family gods that belonged to her father. ²⁰And that’s not all. Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean. He didn’t tell him he was running away.

²¹So Jacob ran off with everything he had. He crossed the Euphrates River. And he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Chases Jacob

²²On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had run away. ²³He took his relatives with him and went after Jacob. Seven days later he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. He said to him, “Be careful. Do not say anything to Jacob, whether it is good or bad.”

²⁵Jacob had set up his tent in the hill country of Gilead. That’s where Laban caught up with him. Laban and his relatives camped there too.

²⁶Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have tricked me. You have taken my daughters away like prisoners of war. ²⁷Why did you run away in secret and trick me? Why didn’t you tell me? Then I could have sent you away happily. We could have sung to the music of tambourines and harps. ²⁸You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing.

²⁹“I have the power to harm you. But last night the God of your father…