Genesis, 30

1. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

1. When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister, and so she said to Jacob, "Give me sons or I shall die."

2. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

2. Jacob became angry and said to her, "Is it my fault that God has deprived you of children?"

3. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

3. She then said, "Here is my servant Bilhah; sleep with her so that she may give birth on my knees; so the child will be mine."

4. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

4. And she gave Bilhah her servant as wife to Jacob.

5. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

5. She became pregnant and bore him a son.

6. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

6. Rachel then said, "God has done me justice! He has heard my prayer and given me a son. That is why she named him Dan.

7. And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

7. Bilhah, Rachel's servant, bore a second son to Jacob.

8. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

8. And Rachel said, "I have had a mighty struggle with my sister and I have won!" And so she named her son Naphtali.

9. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

9. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

10. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.

10. Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob.

11. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

11. Leah said "How fortunate!" and named him Gad.

12. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.

12. Leah's servant bore a second son to Jacob.

13. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

13. Leah said, "How happy I am! Women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

14. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

14. At the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out to the fields and found some mandrake plants which he brought to his mother, Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

15. And she said unto her, [Is it] a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.

15. But Leah replied, "Isn't it enough for you to have taken my husband? Now you want to take my son's mandrakes as well!" Rachel then said, "He will sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."

16. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

16. In the evening when Jacob came in from the fields Leah went to meet him and said, "You will sleep with me tonight for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes!" So he slept with her that night.

17. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

17. Yahweh heard Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

18. Leah said, "God has given me my reward because I gave my maidservant to my husband." She named the child Issachar.

19. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.

19. Leah bore another son to Jacob.

20. And Leah said, God hath endued me [with] a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

20. Then she said, "God has offered me a beautiful gift; this time my husband will honor me for I have given him six children." She named the child Zebulun.

21. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

21. She later gave birth to a daughter and called her Dinah.

22. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

22. Then Yahweh remembered Rachel and let her have a child.

23. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

23. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. "Yahweh has taken away my shame," she said.

24. And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

24. And she called the child Joseph saying,"May Yahweh give me another son."

25. And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

25. After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Let me go, so that I may return to my homeland.

26. Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

26. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go, for you know how well I have served you."

27. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, [tarry: for] I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

27. Laban said, "If I have won your friendship... I have learned from signs that Yahweh has blessed me because of you."

28. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give [it].

28. He then added, "Say what you want for wages and I will pay you."

29. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

29. Jacob said, "You know how well I have served you and how your cattle have prospered with me.

30. For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came], and it is [now] increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

30. For you had little when I came, but since I have been with you there has been a considerable increase and Yahweh has blessed you. But now, when am I to do something for my own household?"

31. And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:

31. Laban asked, "What shall I give you?" Jacob replied, "You will give me nothing, but if you do for me what I ask, I will continue to pasture and look after your flock.

32. I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and [of such] shall be my hire.

32. Today I shall go through your flock removing from it every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; these shall be my wages.

33. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

33. My honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages. Any goat among my herd that is not spotted or speckled, any lamb found among the sheep in my possession that is not black will be counted as stolen."

34. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

34. Laban said, "Agreed, it will be as you say."

35. And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, [and] every one that had [some] white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave [them] into the hand of his sons.

35. That same day Laban put aside the he-goats that were streaked, every one that had white on it, and all the black sheep. These he handed over to his sons

36. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

36. and he put a distance of a three days' journey between himself and Jacob. So Jacob looked after the rest of Laban's flock.

37. And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which [was] in the rods.

37. Jacob then gathered fresh branches of poplar, almond and plane. He peeled white streaks in them, letting the white of the stems be seen.

38. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

38. Then he placed the branches he had peeled in front of the channels of the watering troughs where the animals came to drink and where they could be clearly seen by the animals. And as they mated there in front of the branches when they came to drink,

39. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

39. the animals produced streaked, spotted and speckled young.

40. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.

40. He put the sheep apart but made the rest face the streaked and dark colored animals that belonged to Laban. In this way he built up droves of his own and did not add them to Laban's flock.

41. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

41. Whenever the stronger of the ewes were breeding, Jacob put the branches in the channels in front of the eyes of the ewes so that they would mate there among the branches.

42. But when the cattle were feeble, he put [them] not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

42. But for the feebler ewes he did not put them there so that the feebler were for Laban and the more robust for Jacob.

43. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

43. In this way he became extremely rich with a great number of sheep, maidservants and menservants, camels and donkeys.