Genesis 29:31-30:24

Common English Bible

Jacob’s sons are born

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to have children. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben^[a] because she said, “The Lord saw my harsh treatment, and now my husband will love me.” ³³ She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved, so he gave me this son too,” and she named him Simeon.^{[b] 34} She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “Now, this time my husband will embrace me,^[c] since I have given birth to three sons for him.” So she named him Levi.^{[d] 35} She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^[e] Then she stopped bearing children.

30 When Rachel realized that she could bear Jacob no children, Rachel became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children! If you don’t, I may as well be dead.”

² Jacob was angry at Rachel and said, “Do you think I’m God? God alone has kept you from giving birth!”

³ She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will give birth for me. Because of her, I will also have children.” ⁴ So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as his wife, and he slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor, heard my voice, and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.^{[f] 7} Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ Rachel said, “I’ve competed fiercely with my sister, and now I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.^[g]

⁹ When Leah realized that she had stopped bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob, ¹¹ and Leah said, “What good luck!” So she named him Gad.^{[h] 12} Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a second son for Jacob, ¹³ and Leah said, “I’m happy now because women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.^[i]

¹⁴ During the wheat harvest, Reuben found some erotic herbs^[j] in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me your son’s erotic herbs.”

¹⁵ Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you’ve taken my husband? Now you want to take my son’s erotic herbs too?”

Rachel said, “For your son’s erotic herbs, Jacob^[k] may sleep with you tonight.”

¹⁶ When Jacob came back from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I’ve paid for you with my son’s erotic herbs.” So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷ God responded to Leah. She became pregnant and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God gave me what I paid for, what I deserved for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.^{[l] 19} Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob, ²⁰ and she said, “God has given me a wonderful gift. Now my husband will honor me since I’ve borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.^{[m] 21} After this, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, responded to her, and let her conceive. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my shame.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph,^[n] saying to herself, May the Lord give me another son.