HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 399
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too.” 4 So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to
Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah
became pregnant and presented him with a son.
6 Rachel named him Dan,* for she said, “God has
vindicated me! He has heard my request and
given me a son.” 7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel named him Naphtali,* for she said, “I have
struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t
getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. 11 Leah
named him Gad,* for she said, “How fortunate
I am!” 12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah named him Asher,* for she said,
“What joy is mine! Now the other women will
celebrate with me.”
14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field
and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel
begged Leah, “Please give me some of your
son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough
that you stole my husband? Now will you steal
my son’s mandrakes, too?”
Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep
with you tonight if you give me some of the
mandrakes.”
16 So that evening, as Jacob was coming home
from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You
must come and sleep with me tonight!” she
said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes
that my son found.” So that night he slept with
Leah. 17 And God answered Leah’s prayers. She
became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth
son for Jacob. 18 She named him Issachar,* for
she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my
servant to my husband as a wife.” 19 Then Leah
became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth
son for Jacob. 20 She named him Zebulun,* for
she said, “God has given me a good reward.
Now my husband will treat me with respect,
for I have given him six sons.” 21 Later she gave
birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and
answered her prayers by enabling her to have
children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth
to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she
said. 24 And she named him Joseph,* for she
said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my
family.”
Jacob’s Wealth Increases
25 Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph,
Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can
30:6 Dan means “he judged” or “he vindicated.” 30:8 Naphtali
means “my struggle.” 30:11 Gad means “good fortune.”
30:13 Asher means “happy.” 30:18 Issachar sounds like a
Hebrew term that means “reward.” 30:20 Zebulun probably
means “honor.” 30:24 Joseph means “may he add.” 30:27 Or
I have learned by divination that.
G ENESIS 30
go home to my own country. 26 Let me take my
wives and children, for I have earned them by
serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”
27 “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have
become wealthy, for* the Lord has blessed me
because of you. 28 Tell me how much I owe you.
Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
29 Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve
worked for you, and how your flocks and herds
have grown under my care. 30 You had little
indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you
through everything I’ve done. But now, what
about me? When can I start providing for my
own family?”
31 “What wages do you want?” Laban asked
again.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just
do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and
watch over your flocks. 32 Let me inspect your
flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats
that are speckled or spotted, along with all the
black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. 33 In
the future, when you check on the animals you
have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I
have been honest. If you find in my flock any
goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep
that are not black, you will know that I have
stolen them from you.”
34 “All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you
say.” 35 But that very day Laban went out and
removed the male goats that were streaked and
spotted, all the female goats that were speckled
and spotted or had white patches, and all the
black sheep. He placed them in the care of his
own sons, 36 who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob
stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took some fresh branches from
poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off
strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
38 Then he placed these peeled branches in
the watering troughs where the flocks came to
drink, for that was where they mated. 39 And
when they mated in front of the white-streaked
branches, they gave birth to young that were
streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at
mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s
animals that were streaked or black. This is
how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.
41 Whenever the stronger females were ready
to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches
in the watering troughs in front of them. Then
they would mate in front of the branches. 42 But
he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the
weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the
stronger ones were Jacob’s. 43 As a result, Jacob