Genesis 29:31–30:24

Jacob’s Children

³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,^m he enabled her to conceive,ⁿ but Rachel remained childless. ³²Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^o She named him Reuben,^bp for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.^q Surely my husband will love me now.”

³³She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,^r he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.^cs

³⁴Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,^t because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.^du

³⁵She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^ev Then she stopped having children.^w

30When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children,^x she became jealous of her sister.^y So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

²Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God,^z who has kept you from having children?”^a

³Then she said, “Here is Bilhah,^b my servant.^c Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”^d

⁴So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.^e Jacob slept with her,^{f 5}and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;^g he has listened to my plea and given me a son.”^h Because of this she named him Dan.^ai

⁷Rachel’s servant Bilhah^j conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”^k So she named him Naphtali.^bl

⁹When Leah^m saw that she had stopped having children,ⁿ she took her servant Zilpah^o and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^{p 10}Leah’s servant Zilpah^q bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”^c So she named him Gad.^dr

¹²Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me^s happy.”^t So she named him Asher.^eu

¹⁴During wheat harvest,^v Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants,^w which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough^x that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”

“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”^y

¹⁶So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”^z So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷God listened to Leah,^a and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.”^b So she named him Issachar.^fc

¹⁹Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor,^d because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.^ge

²¹Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.^f

²²Then God remembered Rachel;^g he listened to her^h and enabled her to conceive.^{i 23}She became pregnant and gave birth to a son^j and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”^{k 24}She named him Joseph,^hl and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”^m