1 ARST Meanwhile{ when} Rachel realized that she was not able to bear{ any}{ children} for Jacob, she was jealous of her sister, and she demanded of Jacob,“Help me have children, or else I want to die!” BSB BSB: When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
2 ARST Jacob became very angry with Rachel and responded,“I am not God! He is the one who has prevented you from having children!” BSB BSB: Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
3 ARST Then Rachel told{ him},“You can have my servant woman Bilhah{ as a wife}. Have{ marital} relations with her so that she will have children for me, so that I too can have a family.” BSB BSB: Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”
4 ARST So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah to be{ another} wife{ for him}, and Jacob had{ marital} relations with her. BSB BSB: So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
5 ARST Then Bilhah became pregnant and had a son for Jacob, BSB BSB: and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son.
6 ARST and Rachel exclaimed,“God has judged in my favor! Yes indeed, he has answered my prayer and given me a son!” That is why she named the baby Dan,{ which means“he judged in my favor.”} BSB BSB: Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
7 ARST Then Rachel’ s servant Bilhah became pregnant again and had a second son for Jacob. BSB BSB: And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 ARST Then Rachel exclaimed,“I have had a difficult contest with my sister, and{ now} I have defeated her!” Then she named that son Naphtali,{ which means“my contest.”} BSB BSB: Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9 ARST Now when Leah realized that she had stopped having children, she brought her servant Zilpah{ to Jacob} and gave her to him to be{ another} wife{ for him}. BSB BSB: When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
10 ARST Then Zilpah had a son for Jacob, BSB BSB: And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11 ARST and Leah exclaimed,“I am so fortunate!” So she named him Gad,{ which means“fortunate.”} BSB BSB: Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.
12 ARST Then Leah’ s servant Zilpah had a second son for Jacob, BSB BSB: When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,
13 ARST and Leah exclaimed,“{ God} has truly blessed me! Now{ other} women will know that{ God} has blessed me.” So she named that son Asher,{ which means“blessed.”} BSB BSB: Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
14 ARST Then{ one day} during the season when people were harvesting wheat, Leah’ s son Reuben went out in a field and found{ some} fertility plants, and he gave them to his mother.{ When Rachel found out about the plants,} she begged Leah,“Please give me some of the fertility plants that your son found.” BSB BSB: Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 ARST But Leah replied to her,“{ No!} It was{ bad} enough that you stole my husband{ from me}! And{ now} you even want to take my son’ s fertility plants!” Rachel replied,“Alright then, Jacob can sleep with you tonight if you will give me your son’ s fertility plants.” BSB BSB: But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 ARST That evening when Jacob came{ home} from{ working in} the field, Leah went out to greet him and told{ him},“You must sleep with me{ tonight}, because I have traded my son’ s fertility plants for time with you.” So Jacob spent that night with Leah. BSB BSB: When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
17 ARST God answered{ the prayers of} Leah, so that she became pregnant and had a fifth son for Jacob. BSB BSB: And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
18 ARST Then she said,“God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband{ as a wife}.” So she named that son Issachar,{ which means“reward.”} BSB BSB: Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
19 ARST Then Leah became pregnant again and had a sixth son for Jacob. BSB BSB: Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
20 ARST Then she said,“God has given me a valuable gift,{ so that} now my husband will honor me because I have had six sons for him.” So she named their son Zebulun,{ which means“honor.”} BSB BSB: “God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.
21 ARST { Sometime} after that, Leah had a daughter and named her Dinah. BSB BSB: After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 ARST God had not forgotten Rachel, so he answered her{ prayers} and made it possible for her to have children. BSB BSB: Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
23 ARST Then she became pregnant and had a son, and she exclaimed,“God has made it so that I am no longer ashamed!” BSB BSB: and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.
24 ARST She named her son Joseph,{ which means“may he give another,”}{ because} she said,“I pray that Yahweh will give me another son.” 30:25-43 BSB BSB: She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”
25 ARST After Rachel had Joseph, Jacob requested of Laban,“{ Please} allow me to leave{ here}, so that I can return to my{ own} home in my{ own} country. BSB BSB: Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.
26 ARST Let me take my wives and my children, whom I have earned by working for you, so that I can leave{ with them}. You yourself know how{ well} I have worked for you.” BSB BSB: Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”
27 ARST But Laban responded to him,“Please be kind to me{ and stay},{ because} I have found out from observing signs that Yahweh has blessed me because you{ are here with me}.” BSB BSB: But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.”
28 ARST Then he added,“Tell me what you want your pay to be, and that is what I will pay you.” BSB BSB: And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
29 ARST Jacob replied to him,“You yourself know how{ hard} I have worked for you and how{ well} your animals have prospered under my care. BSB BSB: Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care.
30 ARST The few that you owned before I came have multiplied dramatically. Yes, Yahweh has blessed you because of me. But now, I need to also provide for my{ own} family!” BSB BSB: Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
31 ARST So Laban asked{ him},“What can I pay you{ to persuade you}{ to stay here}?” Jacob answered,“Do not pay me anything. Just do this{ one} thing for me, and I will continue taking care of your flock{ s}: BSB BSB: “What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks.
32 ARST Let me look through all your flock{ s} today and separate out from them all the lambs that are speckled, spotted or dark- colored, and{ all} the young goats that are spotted or speckled. They will be my pay. BSB BSB: Let 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. These will be my wages.
33 ARST That way{ too}, in the future it will be easy{ for you} to know whether{ or not} I am being honest whenever you check the animals you have paid me.{ If you see that I have} any{ sheep or} goats that are not speckled or spotted or any lambs{ that are not} dark- colored,{ you will know that} I stole them{ from you}.” BSB BSB: So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”
34 ARST Laban replied,“I agree, let’ s do exactly as you have suggested.” BSB BSB: “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35 ARST But that{ same} day, Laban separated{ from his flocks}{ all} the he- goats that had stripes or spots, and all the she- goats that had speckles or spots, all that{ had any} white{ marks} on them, together with all the dark- colored lambs. Then he told his sons to take care of{ them}, BSB BSB: That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons.
36 ARST and he{ and his sons} took{ those animals} a three- day walking- distance away from Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob continued taking care of the rest of Laban’ s flock{ s}. BSB BSB: Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 ARST Then Jacob cut{ some} branches from poplar{ trees}, almond{ trees}, and chestnut{ trees}, and made white streaks on them{ by peeling off long strips of bark}, which exposed the white{ wood} that was inside the branches. BSB BSB: Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches.
38 ARST Then he put those{ streaked} branches in all the drinking troughs that the flock{ s} would come to drink from, so that the flock{ s} would see the branches.{ That way, whenever} the animals that were ready to mate came{ to the troughs} to drink, BSB BSB: Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink,
39 ARST they would see the branches as they were mating. As a result, they would have{ young that were} striped or speckled or spotted. BSB BSB: they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
40 ARST Then Jacob separated those young animals{ from Laban’ s flocks}{ to form new flocks for himself}, and he put{ the rest of} the flock{ s} with the striped and dark- colored{ animals} in Laban’ s flock{ s}{ so that they would mate and have young that were striped or dark- colored}. In that way,{ over time} he created separate flocks{ of sheep and goats} for himself that he kept separate from Laban’ s flock{ s}. BSB BSB: Jacob set apart the young, but made the rest face the streaked dark-colored sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and did not put them with Laban’s animals.
41 ARST Whenever the stronger female animals were ready to mate, Jacob put the{ streaked} branches in the{ drinking} troughs in front of those animals so that they would see the branches as they were mating. BSB BSB: Whenever the stronger females of the flock were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they would breed in front of the branches.
42 ARST But whenever the weaker female animals{ were ready to mate}, Jacob did not put{ the branches}{ in the troughs}. In that way,{ the young from} the weaker{ animals} were Laban’ s and{ the young from} the stronger{ animals} were Jacob’ s. BSB BSB: But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.
43 ARST So Jacob became extremely wealthy. He owned large flock{ s}{ of sheep and goats}, and{ many} male and female servants and{ many} camels and donkeys. BSB BSB: Thus Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. He owned large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.