DaySpring Hope & Encouragement Bible - Flipbook - Page 58
G enesis 30
40
Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob was in love
with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll
give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”
19 “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else.
Stay and work with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But
his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
21 Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
22 So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding
feast. 23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he
slept with her. 24 (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)
25 But when Jacob woke up in the m
orning—it was Leah! “What have you
done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why
have you tricked me?”
26 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the
firstborn,” Laban replied. 27 “But wait until the bridal week is over; then
we’ll give you Rachel, t oo—provided you promise to work another seven
years for me.”
28 So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. 29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bil
hah, to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her
much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional
seven years.
Jacob’s Many Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children,
but Rachel could not conceive. 32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth
to a son. She named him Reuben,* for she said, “The Lord has noticed my
misery, and now my husband will love me.”
33 She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She
named him Simeon,* for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and
has given me another son.”
34 Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son.
He was named Levi,* for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel
affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”
35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She
named him Judah,* for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she
stopped having children.
30
When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she
became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the
one who has kept you from having children!”
3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She
will bear children for me,* and through her I can have a family, too.” 4 So Ra
chel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah
29:32 Reuben means “Look, a son!” It also sounds like the Hebrew for “He has seen my misery.”
29:33 Simeon probably means “one who hears.” 29:34 Levi sounds like a Hebrew term that
means “being attached” or “feeling affection for.” 29:35 Judah is related to the Hebrew term
for “praise.” 30:3 Hebrew bear children on my knees.
