Jacob’s Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,^(A) he enabled her to conceive,^(B) but Rachel remained childless. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(C) She named him Reuben,^[a](D) for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.^(E) Surely my husband will love me now.”

³³ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved,^(F) he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.^[b](G)

³⁴ Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me,^(H) because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.^[c](I)

³⁵ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^[d](J) Then she stopped having children.^(K)

⁵ and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;^(A) he has listened to my plea and given me a son.”^(B) Because of this she named him Dan.^[a](C)

⁷ Rachel’s servant Bilhah^(D) conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”^(E) So she named him Naphtali.^[b](F)

⁹ When Leah^(G) saw that she had stopped having children,^(H) she took her servant Zilpah^(I) and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^{(J) 10} Leah’s servant Zilpah^(K) bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”^[c] So she named him Gad.^[d](L)

¹² Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me^(M) happy.”^(N) So she named him Asher.^[e](O)

¹⁷ God listened to Leah,^(A) and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.”^(B) So she named him Issachar.^[a](C)

¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then 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.^[b](E)

²¹ Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.^(F)

²² Then 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,^[c](L) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”^(M)

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac^(A)

¹⁶ Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,^(B) Rachel^(C) began to give birth and had great difficulty. ¹⁷ And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife^(D) said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”^{(E) 18} As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.^[a](F) But his father named him Benjamin.^[b](G)

²² While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine^(A) Bilhah,^(B) and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

These were the sons of Jacob,^(N) who were born to him in Paddan Aram.^(O)