Genesis:30

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children , Rachel envied her sister , and said to Jacob , "Give me children , or else I die !" * And Jacob 's anger was aroused against Rachel , and he said , "Am I in the place of God , who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb ?" * So she said , "Here is my maid Bilhah ; go in to her , and she will bear a child on my knees , that I also may have children by her ." * Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife , and Jacob went in to her . * And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son . * Then Rachel said , "God has judged my case ; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son ." Therefore she called his name Dan . * And Rachel 's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son . * Then Rachel said , "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister , and indeed I have prevailed ." So she called his name Naphtali . * When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing , she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife . * And Leah 's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son . * Then Leah said , "A troop comes !" So she called his name Gad . * And Leah 's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son . * Then Leah said , "I am happy , for the daughters will call me blessed ." So she called his name Asher . * Now Reuben went in the days of 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 ." * But she said to her , "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband ? Would you take away my son 's mandrakes also ?" And Rachel said , "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son 's mandrakes ." * When Jacob came out of the field in the evening , Leah went out to meet him and said , "You must come in to me , for I have surely hired you with my son 's mandrakes ." And he lay with her that night . * And God listened to Leah , and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son . * Leah said , "God has given me my wages , because I have given my maid to my husband ." So she called his name Issachar . * Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son . * And Leah said , "God has endowed me with a good endowment ; now my husband will dwell with me , because I have borne him six sons ." So she called his name Zebulun . * Afterward she bore a daughter , and called her name Dinah . * Then God remembered Rachel , and God listened to her and opened her womb . * And she conceived and bore a son , and said , "God has taken away my reproach ." * So she called his name Joseph , and said , "The LORD shall add to me another son ." * And it came to pass , when Rachel had borne Joseph , that Jacob said to Laban , "Send me away , that I may go to my own place and to my country . * Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you , and let me go ; for you know my service which I have done for you ." * And Laban said to him , "Please stay , if I have found favor in your eyes , for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake ." * Then he said , "Name me your wages , and I will give it ." * So Jacob said to him , "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me . * For what you had before I came was little , and it has increased to a great amount ; the LORD has blessed you since my coming . And now , when shall I also provide for my own house ?" * So he said , "What shall I give you ?" And Jacob said , "You shall not give me anything . If you will do this thing for me , I will again feed and keep your flocks : * Let me pass through all your flock today , removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep , and all the brown ones among the lambs , and the spotted and speckled among the goats ; and these shall be my wages . * So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come , when the subject of my wages comes before you : every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats , and brown among the lambs , will be considered stolen , if it is with me ." * And Laban said , "Oh , that it were according to your word !" * So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted , all the female goats that were speckled and spotted , every one that had some white in it , and all the brown ones among the lambs , and gave them into the hand of his sons . * Then he put three days ' journey between himself and Jacob , and Jacob fed the rest of Laban 's flocks . * Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees , peeled white strips in them , and exposed the white which was in the rods . * And the rods which he had peeled , he set before the flocks in the gutters , in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink , so that they should conceive when they came to drink . * So the flocks conceived before the rods , and the flocks brought forth streaked , speckled , and spotted . * Then Jacob separated the lambs , and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban ; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban 's flock . * And it came to pass , whenever the stronger livestock conceived , that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters , that they might conceive among the rods . * But when the flocks were feeble , he did not put them in ; so the feebler were Laban 's and the stronger Jacob 's . * Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous , and had large flocks , female and male servants , and camels and donkeys .

---