Genesis 29:31–35:18

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

Jacob’s Flocks Increase

²⁵After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my wayⁿ so I can go back to my own homeland.^{o 26}Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you,^p and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

²⁷But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,^q please stay. I have learned by divination^r that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”^{s 28}He added, “Name your wages,^t and I will pay them.”

²⁹Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you^u and how your livestock has fared under my care.^{v 30}The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.^w But now, when may I do something for my own household?^x”

³¹“What shall I give you?” he asked.

“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: ³²Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat.^y They will be my wages.^{z 33}And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored,^a will be considered stolen.^b”

³⁴“Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs,^c and he placed them in the care of his sons.^{d 36}Then he put a three-day journey^e between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond^f and plane trees^g and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.^{h 38}Then he placed the peeled branchesⁱ in all the watering troughs,^j so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat^k and came to drink, ³⁹they mated in front of the branches.^l And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.^{m 40}Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animalsⁿ that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. ⁴¹Whenever the stronger females were in heat,^o Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,^{p 42}but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.^{q 43}In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.^r

Jacob Flees From Laban

31Jacob heard that Laban’s sons^s were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”^{t 2}And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.^u

³Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back^v to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”^w

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵He said to them, “I see that your father’s^x attitude toward me is not what it was before,^y but the God of my father has been with me.^{z 6}You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,^{a 7}yet your father has cheated^b me by changing my wages^c ten times.^d However, God has not allowed him to harm me.^{e 8}If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’^f then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹So God has taken away your father’s livestock^g and has given them to me.^h

¹⁰“In breeding season I once had a dreamⁱ in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹The angel of God^j said to me in the dream,^k ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’^{l 12}And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted,^m for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.^{n 13}I am the God of Bethel,^o where you anointed a pillar^p and where you made a vow^q to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.^r’ ”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share^s in the inheritance of our father’s estate? ¹⁵Does he not regard us as foreigners?^t Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.^{u 16}Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.^v So do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷Then Jacob put his children and his wives^w on camels,^{x 18}and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated^y in Paddan Aram,^az to go to his father Isaac^a in the land of Canaan.^b

¹⁹When Laban had gone to shear his sheep,^c Rachel stole her father’s household gods.^{d 20}Moreover, Jacob deceived^e Laban the Aramean^f by not telling him he was running away.^{g 21}So he fled^h with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River,ⁱ and headed for the hill country of Gilead.^j

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²On the third day^k Laban was told that Jacob had fled.^{l 23}Taking his relatives^m with himⁿ, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.^{o 24}Then God came to Laban the Aramean^p in a dream at night and said to him,^q “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”^r

²⁵Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead^s when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done?^t You’ve deceived me,^u and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.^{v 27}Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me,^w so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels^x and harps?^{y 28}You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye.^z You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹I have the power to harm you;^a but last night the God of your father^b said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’^{c 30}Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household.^d But why did you steal^e my gods?^f”

³¹Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.^{g 32}But if you find anyone who has your gods, that…