Genesis 29:31–35:18

³¹And Jehovah seeth that Leah is the hated one, and He openeth her womb, and Rachel is barren; ³²and Leah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Reuben, for she said, ‘Because Jehovah hath looked on mine affliction; because now doth my husband love me.’ ³³And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, ‘Because Jehovah hath heard that I am the hated one, He also giveth to me even this one;’ and she calleth his name Simeon. ³⁴And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith, ‘Now is the time, my husband is joined unto me, because I have born to him three sons,’ therefore hath one called his name Levi. ³⁵And she conceiveth again, and beareth a son, and saith this time, ‘I praise Jehovah;’ therefore hath she called his name Judah; and she ceaseth from bearing.

Chapter 30

¹And Rachel seeth that she hath not borne to Jacob, and Rachel is envious of her sister, and saith unto Jacob, ‘Give me sons, and if there is none—I die.’ ²And Jacob’s anger burneth against Rachel, and he saith, ‘Am I in stead of God who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?’ ³And she saith, ‘Lo, my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she doth bear on my knees, and I am built up, even I, from her;’ ⁴and she giveth to him Bilhah her maid-servant for a wife, and Jacob goeth in unto her; ⁵and Bilhah conceiveth, and beareth to Jacob a son, ⁶and Rachel saith, ‘God hath decided for me, and also hath hearkened to my voice, and giveth to me a son;’ therefore hath she called his name Dan. ⁷And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid-servant, conceiveth again, and beareth a second son to Jacob, ⁸and Rachel saith, ‘With wrestlings of God I have wrestled with my sister, yea, I have prevailed;’ and she calleth his name Napthali. ⁹And Leah seeth that she hath ceased from bearing, and she taketh Zilpah her maid-servant, and giveth her to Jacob for a wife; ¹⁰and Zilpah, Leah’s maid-servant, beareth to Jacob a son, ¹¹and Leah saith, ‘A troop is coming;’ and she calleth his name Gad. ¹²And Zilpah, Leah’s maid-servant, beareth a second son to Jacob, ¹³and Leah saith, ‘Because of my happiness, for daughters have pronounced me happy;’ and she calleth his name Asher.

¹⁴And Reuben goeth in the days of wheat-harvest, and findeth love-apples in the field, and bringeth them in unto Leah, his mother, and Rachel saith unto Leah, ‘Give to me, I pray thee, of the love-apples of thy son.’ ¹⁵And she saith to her, ‘Is thy taking my husband a little thing, that thou hast taken also the love-apples of my son?’ and Rachel saith, ‘Therefore doth he lie with thee to-night, for thy son’s love-apples.’ ¹⁶And Jacob cometh in from the field at evening; and Leah goeth to meet him, and saith, ‘Unto me dost thou come in, for hiring I have hired thee with my son’s love-apples;’ and he lieth with her during that night. ¹⁷And God hearkeneth unto Leah, and she conceiveth, and beareth to Jacob a son, a fifth, ¹⁸and Leah saith, ‘God hath given my hire, because I have given my maid-servant to my husband;’ and she calleth his name Issachar. ¹⁹And conceive again doth Leah, and she beareth a sixth son to Jacob, ²⁰and Leah saith, ‘God hath endowed me—a good dowry; this time doth my husband dwell with me, for I have borne to him six sons;’ and she calleth his name Zebulun; ²¹and afterwards hath she born a daughter, and calleth her name Dinah. ²²And God remembereth Rachel, and God hearkeneth unto her, and openeth her womb, ²³and she conceiveth and beareth a son, and saith, ‘God hath gathered up my reproach;’ ²⁴and she calleth his name Joseph, saying, ‘Jehovah is adding to me another son.’

²⁵And it cometh to pass, when Rachel hath borne Joseph, that Jacob saith unto Laban, ‘Send me away, and I go unto my place, and to my land; ²⁶give up my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and I go; for thou—thou hast known my service which I have served thee.’ ²⁷And Laban saith unto him, ‘If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes—I have observed diligently that Jehovah doth bless me for thy sake.’ ²⁸He saith also, ‘Define thy hire to me, and I give.’ ²⁹And he saith unto him, ‘Thou—thou hast known that which I have served thee in, and that which thy substance was with me; ³⁰for it is little which thou hast had at my appearance, and it breaketh forth into a multitude, and Jehovah blesseth thee at my coming; and now, when do I make, I also, for mine own house?’ ³¹And he saith, ‘What do I give to thee?’ And Jacob saith, ‘Thou dost not give me anything; if thou do for me this thing, I turn back; I have delight; thy flock I watch; ³²I pass through all thy flock to-day to turn aside from thence every sheep speckled and spotted, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and speckled and spotted among the goats—and it hath been my hire; ³³and my righteousness hath answered for me in the day to come, when it cometh in for my hire before thy face;—every one which is not speckled and spotted among my goats, and brown among my lambs—it is stolen with me.’ ³⁴And Laban saith, ‘Lo, O that it were according to thy word;’ ³⁵and he turneth aside during that day the ring-streaked and the spotted he-goats, and all the speckled and the spotted she-goats, every one that hath white in it, and every brown one among the lambs, and he giveth into the hand of his sons, ³⁶and setteth a journey of three days between himself and Jacob; and Jacob is feeding the rest of the flock of Laban.

³⁷And Jacob taketh to himself a rod of fresh poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut, and doth peel in them white peelings, making bare the white that is on the rods, ³⁸and setteth up the rods which he hath peeled in the gutters in the watering troughs (when the flock cometh in to drink), over-against the flock, that they may conceive in their coming in to drink; ³⁹and the flocks conceive at the rods, and the flock beareth ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted ones. ⁴⁰And the lambs hath Jacob parted, and he putteth the face of the flock towards the ring-streaked, also all the brown in the flock of Laban, and he setteth his own droves by themselves, and hath not set them near Laban’s flock. ⁴¹And it hath come to pass whenever the strong ones of the flock conceive, that Jacob set the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, to cause them to conceive by the rods, ⁴²and when the flock is feeble, he doth not set them; and the feeble ones have been Laban’s, and the strong ones Jacob’s. ⁴³And the man increaseth very exceedingly, and hath many flocks, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses.

Chapter 31

¹And he heareth the words of Laban’s sons, saying, ‘Jacob hath taken all that our father hath; yea, from that which our father hath, he hath made all this honour;’ ²and Jacob seeth the face of Laban, and lo, it is not with him as heretofore. ³And Jehovah saith unto Jacob, ‘Turn back unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I am with thee.’ ⁴And Jacob sendeth and calleth for Rachel and for Leah to the field unto his flock; ⁵and saith to them, ‘I am beholding your father’s face—that it is not towards me as heretofore, and the God of my father hath been with me, ⁶and ye—ye have known that with all my power I have served your father, ⁷and your father hath played upon me, and hath changed my hire ten times; and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me.

⁸‘If he say thus: The speckled are thy hire, then bare all the flock speckled ones; and if he say thus: The ring-streaked are thy hire, then bare all the flock ring-streaked; ⁹and God taketh away the substance of your father, and doth give to me.

¹⁰‘And it cometh to pass at the time of the flock conceiving, that I lift up mine eyes and see in a dream, and lo, the he-goats, which are going up on the flock, are ring-streaked, speckled, and grisled; ¹¹and the messenger of God saith unto me in the dream, Jacob, and I say, Here am I.

¹²‘And He saith, Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see—all the he-goats which are going up on the flock are ring-streaked, speckled, and grisled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to thee; ¹³I am the God of Bethel where thou hast anointed a standing pillar, where thou hast vowed a vow to me; now, arise, go out from this land, and turn back unto the land of thy birth.’ ¹⁴And Rachel answereth—Leah also—and saith to him, ‘Have we yet a portion and inheritance in the house of our father? ¹⁵have we not been reckoned strangers to him? for he hath sold us, and he also utterly consumeth our money; ¹⁶for all the wealth which God hath taken away from our father, it is ours, and our children’s; and now, all that God hath said unto thee—do.’

¹⁷And Jacob riseth, and lifteth up his sons and his wives on the camels, ¹⁸and leadeth all his cattle, and all his substance which he hath acquired, the cattle of his getting, which he hath acquired in Padan-Aram, to go unto Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. ¹⁹And Laban hath gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stealeth the teraphim which her father hath; ²⁰and Jacob deceiveth the heart of Laban the Aramaean, because he hath not declared to him that he is fleeing; ²¹and he fleeth, he and all that he hath, and riseth, and passeth over the River, and setteth his face toward the mount of Gilead. ²²And it is told to Laban on the third day that Jacob hath fled, ²³and he taketh his brethren with him, and pursueth after him a journey of seven days, and overtaketh him in the mount of Gilead. ²⁴And God cometh in unto Laban the Aramaean in a dream of the night, and saith to him, ‘Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good unto evil.’

²⁵And Laban overtaketh Jacob; and Jacob hath fixed his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren have fixed theirs in the mount of Gilead. ²⁶And Laban saith to Jacob, ‘What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword? ²⁷Why hast thou hidden thyself to flee, and deceivest me, and hast not declared to me, and I send thee away with joy and with songs, with tabret and with harp, ²⁸and hast not suffered me…