9While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock; for she was a shepherdess. 10And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncleb Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears. 12Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father. 13On hearing the news of his sister’s son Jacob, Laban ran to greet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and took him into his house. He told Laban all that had happened, 14and Laban said to him, “You are truly my bone and flesh.”
When he had stayed with him a month’s time, 15Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are a kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider. Stay with me.” 20So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” 22And Laban gathered all the people of the place and made a feast. 23When evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and he cohabited with her.—24Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.—25When morn- ing came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” 26Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. 27Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.” 28Jacob did so; he waited out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife.—29Laban had given his maidserv- ant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.—30And Jacob cohabited with Rachel also; indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him another seven years.
31The LORD saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. 32Leah conceived and bore a son, and named him Reuben;c for she declared, “It means: ‘The LORD has seend my affliction’; it also means: ‘Now my husband will love me.”’e 33She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This is because the LORD heardf that I was unloved and has given me this one also”; so she named him Simeon. 34Again she conceived and bore a son and declared, “This time my hus- band will become attachedg to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. 35She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praiseh the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
30 When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she be- came envious of her sister; and Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die.” 2Jacob was incensed at Rachel, and said, “Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?” 3She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.” 4So she gave him her maid Bilhah as concubine, and Jacob cohabited with her. 5Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6And Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;a indeed, He has heeded my plea and given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. 7Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8And Rachel said, b-“A fateful contest I waged-b with my sister; yes, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali.
9When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as concubine. 10And when Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son, 11Leah said, “What luck!”c So she named him Gad. 12When Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13Leah de- clared, “What fortune!”d meaning, “Women will deem me fortunate.” So she named him Asher.
14Once, at the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben came upon some mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel replied, “I promise, he shall lie with you tonight, in return for your son’s mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came home from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are to sleep with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night. 17God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore him a fifth son. 18And Leah said, “God has given me my rewarde for having given my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19When Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son, 20Leah said, “God has given me a choice gift;f this time my husband will exalt me,g for I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21Last, she bore him a daughter, and named her Dinah.
22Now God remembered Rachel; God heeded her and opened her womb. 23She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken awayh my disgrace.” 24So she named him Joseph, which is to say, “May the LORD addi another son for me.”
25After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my own homeland. 26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go; for well you know what services I have rendered you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If you will indulge me,j I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me on your account.” 28And he continued, “Name the wages due from me, and I will pay you.” 29But he said, “You know well how I have served you and how your livestock has fared with me. 30For the little you had before I came has grown to much, since the LORD has blessed you wher- ever I turned. And now, when shall I make provision for my own house- hold?” 31He said, “What shall I pay you?” And Jacob said, “Pay me noth- ing! If you will do this thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flocks: 32let me pass through your whole flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted animal—every dark-colored sheep and every spotted and speckled goat. Such shall be my wages. 33In the future when you go over my wages, let my honesty toward you testify for me: if there are among my goats any that are not speckled or spotted or any sheep that are not dark-colored, they got there by theft.” 34And Laban said, “Very well, let it be as you say.”
35But that same day he removed the streaked and spotted he-goats and all the speckled and spotted she-goats—every one that had white on it— and all the dark-colored sheep, and left them in the charge of his sons. 36And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.
37Jacob then got fresh shoots of poplar, and of almond and plane, and peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white of the shoots. 38The rods that he had peeled he set up in front of the goatsk in the troughs, the water receptacles, that the goats came to drink from. Their mating occurred when they came to drink, 39and since the goats mated by the rods, the goats brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted young. 40But Jacob dealt separately with the sheep; he made these animals face the streaked or wholly dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. And so he pro- duced special flocks for himself, which he did not put with Laban’s flocks. 41Moreover, when the sturdierl animals were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they mated by the rods; 42but with the feeblerm animals he would not place them there. Thus the feeble onesm went to Laban and the sturdy to Jacob. 43So the man grew exceedingly prosperous, and came to own large flocks, maidservants and menservants, camels and asses.
31 Now he heard the things that Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from that which was our father’s he has built up all this wealth.” 2Jacob also saw that Laban’s manner toward him was not as it had
