Genesis 30
Revised Geneva Translation
30 And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”
2 Then Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
3 And she said, “Behold my maid, Bilhah. Go into her; and she shall bear upon my knees. And I, also, shall have children by her.”
4 Then she gave him Bilhah, her maid, to wife; and Jacob went into her.
5 So Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Then Rachel said, “God has given sentence on my side, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore, she called his name, Dan.
7 And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have gotten the upper hand.” And she called his name, Naphtali.
9 And when Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob a son.
11 Then Leah said, “A company comes.” And she called his name, Gad.
12 Again Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob another son.
13 Then Leah said, “Ah, blessed am I. For the daughters will bless me.” And she called his name, Asher.
14 Now, Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But she answered her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” Then Rachel said, “Therefore, he shall sleep with you tonight, for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 And Jacob came from the field in the evening. And Leah went out to meet him, and said, “Come into me, for I have bought and paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night.
17 And God heard Leah, and she conceived, and bore to Jacob a fifth son.
18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my maid to my husband.” And she called his name, Issachar.
19 After, Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons.” And she called his name, Zebulun.
21 After that, she bore a daughter; and she called her name, Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel; and God heard her and opened her womb.
23 So she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my rebuke.”
24 And she called his name, Joseph, saying, “The LORD will give me yet another son.”
25 And as soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away so that I may go to my place and to my country.
26 “Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you know what service I have done you.”
27 To whom Laban answered, “If I have now found favor in your sight. I have perceived that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.”
28 Also, he said, “Name your wages and I will give it to you.”
29 But he said to him, “You know what service I have done you, and in what state your cattle has been under me.
30 “For the little that you had before I came has increased into a multitude. And the LORD has blessed you by my coming. But now, when shall I work for my own house also?”
31 Then he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob answered, “You shall give me nothing at all. If you will do this thing for me, I will return, feed, and keep your sheep.
32 “I will pass through all your flocks today, separate from them all the sheep with little spots and great spots and all black lambs among the sheep, and the great spotted, and little spotted among the goats. And that shall be my wages.
33 “So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when my reward comes before your face. Every one that has no little or great spots among the goats, or is black among the sheep, the same shall be considered stolen if with me.
34 Then Laban said, “Go to! Would that it might be according to your saying.”
35 Therefore, the same day, he took out the male goats that were parti-colored and with great spots, and all the female goats with little and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the black among the sheep, and put them in the keeping of his sons.
36 And he set three days journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob kept the rest of Laban’s sheep.
37 Then Jacob took rods of green poplar, and of hazel, and of the chestnut tree, and peeled white strips in them, and made the white appear in the rods.
38 Then he put the rods which he had peeled in the gutters and watering troughs where the sheep came to drink, so they could conceive (for they were in heat, when they came to drink).
39 And the sheep were in heat before the rods; and they brought forth young of parti-color and with small and great spots.
40 And Jacob parted these lambs and turned the faces of the flock toward the parti-colored and all manner of black among the sheep of Laban. So, he put his own flock by themselves, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 And in every ramming time of the stronger sheep, Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the gutters, so that they might conceive before the rods.
42 But when the sheep were feeble, he did not put them in. And so, the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
43 So the man increased exceedingly, and had many flocks, and maid servants, and men servants, and camels, and donkeys.
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.