| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1When 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!” | 1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob. |
| 2Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!” | 2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?” |
| 3Then 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.” | 3Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.” |
| 4So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. | 4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her, |
| 5Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. | 5and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son. |
| 6Rachel named him Dan, for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” | 6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan. |
| 7Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. | 7And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. |
| 8Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!” | 8Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali. |
| 9Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. | 9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. |
| 10Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. | 10And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. |
| 11Leah named him Gad, for she said, “How fortunate I am!” | 11Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. |
| 12Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. | 12When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, |
| 13And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.” | 13Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher. |
| 14One 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.” | 14Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” |
| 15But 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.” | 15But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” |
| 16So 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. | 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 he slept with her that night. |
| 17And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. | 17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. |
| 18She named him Issachar, for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” | 18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. |
| 19Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. | 19Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob. |
| 20She 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.” | 20“God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun. |
| 21Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. | 21After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. |
| 22Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. | 22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, |
| 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. | 23and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said. |
| 24And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the LORD add yet another son to my family.” Jacob’s Wealth Increases | 24She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.” |
| 25Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country. | 25Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. |
| 26Let 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.” | 26Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You 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. | 27But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” |
| 28Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.” | 28And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” |
| 29Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. | 29Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care. |
| 30You 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?” | 30Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?” |
| 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. | 31“What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks. |
| 32Let 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. | 32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages. |
| 33In 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.” | 33So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.” |
| 34“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.” | 34“Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” |
| 35But 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, | 35That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons. |
| 36who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock. | 36Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks. |
| 37Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. | 37Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. |
| 38Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. | 38Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink, |
| 39And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. | 39they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. |
| 40Jacob 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. | 40Jacob set apart the young, but made the rest face the streaked dark-colored sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and did not put them with Laban’s animals. |
| 41Whenever 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. | 41Whenever the stronger females of the flock were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they would breed in front of the branches. |
| 42But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. | 42But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. |
| 43As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys. | 43Thus Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. He owned large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys. |
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