Genesis 30

When Rachel saw that she wasn't having children for Jacob, she was jealous of her sister. And she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I'll die.”

And Jacob was angry with her. “Am I in God's place?” he said. “He's the one who's kept you from having children.”

And she said, “Here's my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her, so she can have children on my knees, and I can build a family through her.”

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with her.

And Bilhah fell pregnant and had a son for Jacob.

And Rachel said, “God has judged in my favour. He's heard me and given me a son.” So she called him Dan.

And Rachel's servant Bilhah fell pregnant again and had a second son for Jacob.

And Rachel said, “I've had a great struggle with my sister, and I've won.” So she called him Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she'd stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

And Leah's servant Zilpah had a son for Jacob.

And Leah said, “What luck.” So she called him Gad.

And Leah's servant Zilpah had a second son for Jacob.

And Leah said, “How happy I am. The women will call me happy.” So she called him Asher.

During the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son's mandrakes.”

And she said to her, “Wasn't it enough to take my husband? Are you going to take my son's mandrakes as well?” “Alright,” said Rachel, “he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.”

So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You're sleeping with me,” she said. “I've hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

And God listened to Leah, and she fell pregnant and had a fifth son for Jacob.

And Leah said, “God has paid me back for giving my servant to my husband.” So she called him Issachar.

And Leah fell pregnant again and had a sixth son for Jacob.

And Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. This time my husband will treat me with honour, because I've had six sons for him.” So she called him Zebulun.

Some time later she had a daughter, and called her Dinah.

Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.

She fell pregnant and had a son, and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”

She called him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.”

After Rachel had Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way, so I can go back to my own place and my own country.

Give me my wives and my children, the ones I worked for, and I'll go. You know how hard I've worked for you.”

But Laban said to him, “If I've found favour with you, stay. I've learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

And he said, “Name your wages and I'll pay them.”

And Jacob said to him, “You know how I've worked for you, and how your stock have done under my care.

The little you had before I came has grown into a great deal, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I've been. But when am I going to do something for my own household?”

“What should I give you?” he asked. “Don't give me anything,” Jacob said. “Just do this one thing for me, and I'll go on looking after your flocks and watching them.

Let me go through all your flocks today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-coloured lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. They'll be my wages.

And my honesty will speak for me later on, whenever you check on the wages you've paid me. Any goat I've got that isn't speckled or spotted, and any lamb that isn't dark, will count as stolen.”

“Alright,” said Laban. “Let it be as you say.”

But that same day Laban took out all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted females — every one with white on it — and all the dark-coloured lambs, and put them in the care of his sons.

Then he put a three days' journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob went on looking after the rest of Laban's flocks.

Then Jacob took fresh-cut branches of poplar, almond and plane, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white inside the branches.

And he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs, right in front of the flocks when they came in to drink — because they mated when they came in to drink.

So the flocks mated in front of the branches, and they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.

And Jacob set the lambs apart, and turned the rest of the flock toward the streaked and dark-coloured animals in Laban's flock. So he built up his own flocks and kept them separate from Laban's.

Whenever the stronger animals were mating, Jacob would put the branches in the troughs in front of them, so they'd mate near the branches.

But if the animals were weak, he wouldn't put them there. So the weak ones went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.

And the man did very well indeed. He had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.