| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Rachel noticed that she was not bearing children for Jacob, so because she envied her sister Leah, she told Jacob, "If you don't give me sons, I'm going to die!" | 1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. "Give me sons, or I will die!" she said to Jacob. |
| 2That made Jacob angry with Rachel, so he asked her, "Can I take God's place, who has not allowed you to conceive?" | 2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld children from you?" |
| 3Rachel responded, "Here's my handmaid Bilhah. Go have sex with her. She can bear children on my knees so I can have children through her." | 3Then she said, "Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family." |
| 4So Rachel gave Jacob her woman servant Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob had sex with her. | 4So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. |
| 5Bilhah conceived and bore a son for Jacob. | 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. |
| 6Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me! He has heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore, she named him Dan. | 6Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son," and she named him Dan. |
| 7Rachel's servant conceived again and bore a second son for Jacob, | 7Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. |
| 8so Rachel said, "I've been through a mighty struggle with my sister and won." She named him Naphtali. | 8Rachel said, "In my wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won," and she named him Naphtali. |
| 9When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took her woman servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. | 9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. |
| 10Leah's servant Zilpah bore a son to Jacob, | 10Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. |
| 11and Leah exclaimed, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad. | 11Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" and she named him Gad. |
| 12Later, Leah's servant Zilpah bore a second son for Jacob. | 12When Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, |
| 13She said, "How happy I am, because women will call me happy!" So she named him Asher. | 13Leah said, "I am happy that the women call me happy," so she named him Asher. |
| 14Some time later, during the wheat harvest season, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field and brought them back for his mother Leah. Then Rachel told Leah, "Please give me your son's mandrakes." | 14Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." |
| 15In response, Leah asked her, "Wasn't it enough that you've taken away my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes!" But Rachel replied, "Okay, let's let Jacob sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes." | 15But Leah replied to her, "Isn't it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes?"" Well," Rachel said, "you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes." |
| 16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went to meet him and told him, "You're having sex with me tonight. I traded my son's mandrakes for you!" So he slept with her that night. | 16When 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 Jacob slept with her that night. |
| 17God heard what Leah had said, so she conceived and bore a fifth son for Jacob. | 17God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. |
| 18Then Leah said, "God has paid me for giving my servant to my husband as his wife." So she named him Issachar. | 18Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband," and she named him Issachar. |
| 19Later, Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son for Jacob. | 19Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. " |
| 20Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. This time my husband will exalt me, because I've borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. | 20God has given me a good gift," Leah said. "This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him," and she named him Zebulun. |
| 21After that, Leah conceived, bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. | 21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah. |
| 22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, | 22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. |
| 23so she conceived, bore a son, and remarked, "God has removed my shame." | 23She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my shame." |
| 24Because she had been asking, "May God give me another son," she named him Joseph. | 24She named him Joseph: "May the LORD add another son to me." |
| 25After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, "Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country. | 25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. |
| 26Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. Then I'll leave, since you're aware of my service to you." | 26Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you." |
| 27Then Laban responded, "If I've found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I've learned through divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. | 27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you." |
| 28Name your wage, and I'll give it to you." | 28Then Laban said, "Name your wages, and I will pay them." |
| 29But Jacob replied to Laban, "You know how I've served you and how your cattle thrived under my care. | 29So Jacob said to him, "You know what I have done for you and your herds. |
| 30What you had previously was only a few head, but the herd has now multiplied, because the LORD has blessed you through my efforts. But now, when am I going to be able to provide for my own household?" | 30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The LORD has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?" |
| 31"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked. Jacob responded, "You don't have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it. | 31Laban asked, "What should I give you?" And Jacob said, "You don't need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. |
| 32Let me walk among your flocks today and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, along with every black lamb, and let me do the same with the speckled and spotted goats. These will be my wages. | 32Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. |
| 33In the future, you'll be able to verify my honesty because, when you come to check what I've earned, if you find a goat that's not speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, then it will have been stolen by me." | 33In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen."" |
| 34"Okay," Laban replied. "We'll do it the way you've asked." | 34Good," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." |
| 35That very day, Laban removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted—that is, every one that had white on them—and all the black lambs and placed them into the care of his sons. | 35That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats--every one that had any white on it--and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. |
| 36He sent them as far away from Jacob as a three days' journey could take them. Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. | 36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban's flock. |
| 37Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches. | 37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. |
| 38Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink. | 38He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep--in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. |
| 39When the flocks mated in front of the branches, they would bear offspring that were striped, speckled, or spotted. | 39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young. |
| 40Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock. | 40Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and the completely dark sheep in Laban's flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn't put them with Laban's sheep. |
| 41Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches. | 41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. |
| 42But he didn't put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob. | 42As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. |
| 43Therefore the man Jacob prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys. | 43And the man became very rich. He had many flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. |
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