Dan and Naphtali 1And when Rahel saw that she bare Iaakob no children, Rahel enuied her sister, and said vnto Iaakob, Giue me children, or els I dye. 2Then Iaakobs anger was kindled against Rahel, and he sayde, Am I in Gods steade, which hath withholden from thee the fruite of the wombe? 3And she said, Behold my maide Bilhah, goe in to her, and she shal beare vpon my knees, and I shal haue children also by her. 4Then shee gaue him Bilhah her mayde to wife, and Iaakob went in to her. 5So Bilhah conceiued and bare Iaakob a sonne. 6Then said Rahel, God hath giuen sentence on my side, and hath also heard my voyce, and hath giuen mee a sonne: therefore called shee his name, Dan. 7And Bilhah Rahels maide coceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the second sonne. 8Then Rahel said, with excellent wrestlings haue I wrestled with my sister, & haue gotten the vpper hande: and shee called his name, Naphtali. Gad and Asher 9And when Leah saw that she had left bearing, shee tooke Zilpah her mayde, and gaue her Iaakob to wife. 10And Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob a sonne. 11Then sayd Leah, A companie commeth: and she called his name, Gad. 12Againe Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob another sonne. 13Then sayde Leah, Ah, blessed am I, for the daughters will blesse me; she called his name, Asher. 14Nowe Reuben went in the dayes of the wheateharuest, and founde mandrakes in the fielde and brought them vnto his mother Leah. Then sayde Rahel to Leah, Giue me, I pray thee, of thy sonnes mandrakes. 15But shee answered her, Is it a small matter for thee to take mine husband, except thou take my sonnes mandrakes also? Then sayde Rahel, Therefore he shall sleepe with thee this night for thy sonnes mandrakes. 16And Iaakob came from the fielde in the euening, and Leah went out to meete him, and sayde, Come in to mee, for I haue bought and payed for thee with my sonnes mandrakes: and he slept with her that night. Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah 17And God heard Leah and shee conceiued, and bare vnto Iaakob the fift sonne. 18Then said Leah, God hath giuen me my reward, because I gaue my mayde to my husband, and she called his name Issachar. 19After, Leah conceiued againe, & bare Iaakob the sixt sonne. 20Then Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowrie: nowe will mine husbande dwell with me, because I haue borne him sixe sonnes: & she called his name Zebulun. 21After that, shee bare a daughter, and shee called her name Dinah. Joseph 22And God remembred Rahel, and God heard her, and opened her wombe. 23So she conceiued & bare a sonne, and said, God hath taken away my rebuke. 24And shee called his name Ioseph, saying, The Lord wil giue me yet another sonne. Jacob Prospers 25And assoone as Rahel had borne Ioseph, Iaakob said to Laban, Sende me away that I may go vnto my place and to my countrey. 26Giue me my wiues and my children, for whom I haue serued thee, and let me go: for thou knowest what seruice I haue done thee. 27To whom Laban answered, If I haue nowe found fauour in thy sight tarie: I haue perceiued that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 28Also he said, Appoynt vnto me thy wages, and I will giue it thee. 29But he sayd vnto him, Thou knowest, what seruice I haue done thee, and in what taking thy cattell hath bene vnder me. 30For the litle, that thou haddest before I came, is increased into a multitude: and the Lorde hath blessed thee by my coming: but nowe when shall I trauell for mine owne house also? 31Then he saide, What shal I giue thee? And Iaakob answered, Thou shalt giue mee nothing at all: if thou wilt doe this thing for mee, I will returne, feede, and keepe thy sheepe. 32I wil passe through all thy flockes this day, and separate from them all the sheepe with litle spots & great spots, and al blacke lambes among the sheepe, and the great spotted, and litle spotted among the goates: and it shalbe my wages. 33So shal my righteousnesse answere for me hereafter, when it shall come for my rewarde before thy face, and euery one that hath not litle or great spots among the goates, and blacke among the sheepe, the same shalbe theft with me. 34Then Laban sayde, Goe to, woulde God it might be according to thy saying. 35Therefore he tooke out the same day the hee goates that were partie coloured and with great spots, and all the shee goates with litle and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the blacke among the sheepe, and put them in the keeping of his sonnes. 36And hee set three dayes iourney betweene himselfe and Iaakob; Iaakob kept the rest of Labans sheepe. 37Then Iaakob tooke rods of greene popular, and of hasell, and of the chesnut tree, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appeare in the rods. 38Then he put the rods, which he had pilled, in the gutters and watering troughes, when the sheepe came to drink, before the sheepe. (for they were in heate, when they came to drinke) 39And the sheepe were in heate before the rods, and afterward brought forth yong of partie colour, and with small and great spots. 40And Iaakob parted these lambes, and turned the faces of the flocke towardes these lambes partie coloured and all maner of blacke, among the sheepe of Laban: so hee put his owne flockes by themselues, and put them not with Labans flocke. 41And in euery ramming time of the stronger sheepe, Iaakob layde the rods before the eyes of the sheepe in the gutters, that they might conceiue before the rods. 42But when the sheepe were feeble, hee put them not in: and so the feebler were Labans, and the stronger Iaakobs. 43So the man encreased exceedingly, and had many flockes, and maide seruantes, and men seruants, and camels and asses. |