| NET Bible | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I'll 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. |
| 2Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" | 2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld offspring from you?" |
| 3She replied, "Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her." | 3Then she said, "Here is my maid 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 him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with her. | 4So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. |
| 5Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. | 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. |
| 6Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son." That is why she named him Dan. | 6Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son," so she named him Dan. |
| 7Bilhah, Rachel's servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. | 7Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. |
| 8Then Rachel said, "I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won." So 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 having children, she gave her servant Zilpah 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. |
| 10Soon Leah's servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. | 10Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. |
| 11Leah said, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad. | 11Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" and she named him Gad. |
| 12Then Leah's servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. | 12When Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, |
| 13Leah said, "How happy I am, for 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. |
| 14At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Give me some of 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." |
| 15But Leah replied, "Wasn't it enough that you've taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes too?" "All right," Rachel said, "he may 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 then," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes." |
| 16When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son's mandrakes." So he had marital relations 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 paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. | 17God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. |
| 18Then Leah said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife." So she named him Issachar. | 18Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband," and she named him Issachar. |
| 19Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. | 19Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. |
| 20Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. | 20"God 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 she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. | 21Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah. |
| 22Then God took note of Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. | 22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. |
| 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "God has taken away my shame." | 23She conceived and bore a son, and she said, "God has taken away my disgrace." |
| 24She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD give me yet another son." | 24She named him Joseph and said, "May the LORD add another son to me." |
| 25After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country. | 25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. |
| 26Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I'll depart, because you know how hard I've worked for 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." |
| 27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me on account of you." | 27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you." |
| 28He added, "Just name your wages--I'll pay whatever you want." | 28Then Laban said, "Name your wages, and I will pay them." |
| 29"You know how I have worked for you," Jacob replied, "and how well your livestock have fared under my care. | 29So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me. |
| 30Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?" | 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?" |
| 31So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them: | 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 all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals 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. |
| 33My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I've taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen." | 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"Agreed!" said Laban, "It will be as you say." | 34"Good," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." |
| 35So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in 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. |
| 36Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban's flocks. | 36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban's flock. |
| 37But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. | 37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. |
| 38Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and 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 sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. | 39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young. |
| 40Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban's flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban's flocks. | 40Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked sheep 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. |
| 41When the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near 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 if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals 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. |
| 43In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys. | 43And the man became very rich. He had many flocks, female and male slaves, and camels and donkeys. |
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