Genesis 30, verse 1. 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.” Genesis 30, verse 2. So 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?” Genesis 30, verse 3. She replied to Jacob, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” Genesis 30, verse 4. She then gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. Genesis 30, verse 5. Thus Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden, conceived and bore Jacob a son. Genesis 30, verse 6. Then Rachel said, “God has judged me; and He has heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore, she called his name Dan. Genesis 30, verse 7. Now Rachel's handmaiden Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Genesis 30, verse 8. Then Rachel said, “God has helped me, and I have wrestled with my sister; and indeed, I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. Genesis 30, verse 9. Now when Leah saw she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaiden and gave her to Jacob as wife. Genesis 30, verse 10. So Jacob went in to her, and Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden, conceived and bore Jacob a son. Genesis 30, verse 11. Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” Thus she called his name Gad. Genesis 30, verse 12. Now Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden, bore Jacob a second son. Genesis 30, verse 13. Then Leah said, “I am blessed, for the women will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher. Genesis 30, verse 14. Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Thus Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son's mandrakes.” Genesis 30, verse 15. 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?” So Rachel said, “Not so! Let him lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes.” Genesis 30, verse 16. Now 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.” So he lay with her that night. Genesis 30, verse 17. Thus God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Genesis 30, verse 18. Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my handmaiden to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. Genesis 30, verse 19. Now Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Genesis 30, verse 20. Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will choose me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. Genesis 30, verse 21. Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
The Agreement of Jacob and Laban
Genesis 30, verse 22. Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. Genesis 30, verse 23. Thus she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” Genesis 30, verse 24. So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add another son to me.” Genesis 30, verse 25. Now 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. Genesis 30, verse 26. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service I rendered you.” Genesis 30, verse 27. Then Laban said to him, “If I could find grace in your eyes, I would seek for it divinely, for God has blessed me by your coming.” Genesis 30, verse 28. So he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” Genesis 30, verse 29. Jacob replied, “You know how I have served you and how numerous your cattle became with me. Genesis 30, verse 30. 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. Now therefore, when shall I also establish my own house?” Genesis 30, verse 31. Thus Laban said to him, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your sheep: Genesis 30, verse 32. Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing from them all the gray sheep, and all the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. Genesis 30, verse 33. 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 gray among the sheep, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” Genesis 30, verse 34. Then Laban said to him, “Let it be according to your word.” Genesis 30, verse 35. So he removed that day all 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 gray ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. Genesis 30, verse 36. Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. Genesis 30, verse 37. Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, tearing off the bark. So the white strips he had peeled appeared on the rods as spotted. Genesis 30, verse 38. Then he placed the rods he had peeled in the gutters of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so they should conceive at the rods as they came to drink. Genesis 30, verse 39. So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth speckled, spotted, and ash-colored speckled. Genesis 30, verse 40. But Jacob separated the male lambs, and placed a speckled ram before the sheep and all that were spotted among the male lambs. Then he separated for himself flocks by themselves and did not mix them with the sheep of Laban. Genesis 30, verse 41. Thus it came to pass, whenever the sheep conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the sheep in the gutters, so they might conceive according to the rods. Genesis 30, verse 42. But whenever the sheep had already given birth, he did not put them in. Thus it came to pass, that the unmarked were Laban's and the marked were Jacob's. Genesis 30, verse 43. So the man became exceedingly rich, and had many cattle and oxen, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.