1Da det gik op for Rakel, at hun ikke kunne få børn, blev hun jaloux på sin søster. „Giv mig børn—eller jeg dør!” klagede hun til Jakob. 2Men så blev Jakob vred. „Er jeg måske Gud? Det er ikke min skyld, at du ikke kan få børn!”
3Da sagde Rakel: „Gå ind til min tjenestepige Bilha, så hun kan blive gravid, og jeg kan få et barn ved hjælp af hende.” 4Så gav hun Jakob Bilha til kone, og han lå hos hende. 5Hun blev gravid og fødte en søn. 6Rakel kaldte ham Dan.30,6 Et ordspil med „skaffe ret”. „Gud har skaffet mig min ret,” sagde hun, „han har hørt min bøn og givet mig en søn.” 7Rakels tjenestepige Bilha blev igen gravid og fødte endnu en søn. 8Rakel kaldte ham Naftali.30,8 Et ordspil med „min kamp”. „Jeg har holdt ud i kampen med min søster,” sagde hun, „og jeg har fået min belønning.”
9I mellemtiden tænkte Lea, at hun nok ikke fik flere børn selv. Derfor gav hun Jakob sin tjenestepige Zilpa til kone, 10og Zilpa fødte snart en søn, 11som Lea kaldte Gad.30,11 Et ordspil med „held”. „Hvor er jeg heldig!” udbrød hun. 12Zilpa fødte endnu en søn, 13som Lea kaldte Asher.30,13 Et ordspil med „velsignet”. „Hvor er jeg velsignet,” sagde hun. „De andre kvinder vil sige det samme.”
14En dag midt i hvedehøsten, hvor Ruben var ude i marken, fandt han nogle kærlighedsfrugter,30,14 Alrunerod. Man mente, at hvis en kvinde spiste dem, havde hun større chance for at blive gravid. og han tog dem hjem til sin mor Lea. Rakel opdagede det og tiggede Lea om at give hende nogle af dem. 15Lea svarede fortørnet: „Først stjal du min mands hjerte—og nu vil du tage min søns kærlighedsfrugter!” „Jeg vil lade ham sove hos dig i nat som betaling for kærlighedsfrugterne,” sagde Rakel.
16Så om aftenen, da Jakob var på vej hjem fra høstarbejdet, gik Lea ham i møde. „I nat skal du sove hos mig,” sagde hun, „for jeg har betalt for dig med nogle kærlighedsfrugter, som min søn fandt.” Den nat sov de så sammen. 17Og Gud bønhørte Lea, så hun blev gravid igen og fødte sin femte søn. 18Ham kaldte hun Issakar.30,18 Et ordspil med „løn”. „Gud har belønnet mig, fordi jeg gav min tjenestepige til min mand,” sagde hun. 19Senere blev hun gravid igen og fødte sin sjette søn. 20Hun kaldte ham Zebulon.30,20 Et ordspil med „gave”. „Gud har givet mig en vidunderlig gave til min mand,” sagde hun. „Nu må han da respektere mig, for jeg har givet ham seks sønner.” 21Senere fødte hun også en datter, som hun kaldte Dina.
22Derpå greb Gud ind i Rakels situation. Han hørte hendes bøn, og hun blev gravid. 23-24Hun fødte en søn, som hun kaldte Josef.30,23-24 Et ordspil med „borttage” eller „give en mere”. „Gud har borttaget min skam,” sagde hun. „Må han give mig endnu en søn!”
Jakobs velstand
25Kort tid efter at Rakel havde født Josef, sagde Jakob til Laban: „Nu vil jeg gerne rejse hjem. 26Lad mig tage af sted med mine koner og mine børn. Du ved, at jeg har betalt for dem ved at arbejde for dig i mange år.”
27„Åh, du må ikke forlade mig,” indvendte Laban. „Jeg har jo set, hvordan Herren har velsignet mig på grund af dig. 28Sig mig, hvad du forlanger i løn, så vil jeg betale det.”
29Jakob svarede: „Du ved selv, hvor trofast jeg har tjent dig gennem årene. Din husdyrflok er vokset enormt. 30Faktisk ejede du kun lidt, inden jeg kom, men nu er du blevet en velstående mand—takket være Herrens velsignelse over alt, hvad jeg har foretaget mig. Men hvad med mig selv? Hvornår kan jeg begynde at tænke på min egen families ve og vel?”
31„Hvad skal du have i løn?” spurgte Laban igen.
Jakob svarede: „Du skal ikke give mig noget som helst. Der er bare én ganske lille ting, du skal gøre for mig, for at jeg vil fortsætte med at have opsyn med din hjord: 32Lad mig straks i dag gå ud og fjerne alle de brogede og plettede får og geder og alle de mørke lam fra din hjord! Dem skal du give mig som løn. 33For at du kan vide, at jeg er en ærlig mand, kan du når som helst inspicere den flok, der skal være min løn. Hvis du finder nogle hvide får eller nogle geder, der ikke er brogede eller plettede i min hjord, ved du, at jeg har stjålet dem fra dig.”
34„Det er en aftale!” sagde Laban, 35men samme dag fjernede han selv alle de brogede og plettede geder (ja, alle dyr med noget hvidt) og alle de mørke lam fra hjorden. Dem overgav han til sine sønner 36og bad dem flytte deres lejr tre dagsrejser bort fra det sted, hvor Jakob var. Og Jakob blev tilbage og passede resten af hans hjord.
37Men Jakob tog friske grene fra poppel-, mandel- og platantræer og skrællede noget af barken af, så der kom hvide striber på grenene. 38Så placerede han grenene ved vandtrugene, så dyrene kunne se dem, når de kom for at drikke. 39Når dyrene parrede sig foran grenene, fik de afkom, som var stribet, plettet eller broget. 40Jakob tog de plettede og brogede unge dyr til sin egen hjord. I parringstiden lod han sine voksne får og geder være sammen med de stribede får og geder og de mørke geder i Labans hjord. På den måde fik Jakob flere og flere får og geder, som var hans, og han tog sig af både dem og Labans får og geder. 41Hver gang de stærke dyr parrede sig, placerede Jakob grenene foran dem, 42men når de svage dyr gjorde det, lod han være. På den måde kom de svage lam til at tilhøre Laban, og de stærke kom til at tilhøre Jakob. 43Resultatet blev, at Jakobs hjord både forøgedes og forædledes, og han blev en velstående mand med masser af slaver, kameler og æsler.
1Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children by Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2Jacob became angry with her. He said, “Do you think I’m God? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.”
3Then she said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her so that she can have children for me. Then I too can have a family through her.”
4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her. 5And Bilhah became pregnant. She had a son by him. 6Then Rachel said, “God has stood up for my rights. He has listened to my prayer and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
7Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again. She had a second son by Jacob. 8Then Rachel said, “I’ve had a great struggle with my sister. Now I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s servant Zilpah had a son by Jacob. 11Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him Gad.
12Leah’s servant Zilpah had a second son by Jacob. 13Then Leah said, “I’m so happy! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
14While the wheat harvest was being gathered, Reuben went out into the fields. He found some mandrake plants. He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15But Leah said to her, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband away? Are you going to take my son’s mandrakes too?”
Rachel said, “All right. Jacob can sleep with you tonight if you give me your son’s mandrakes.”
16Jacob came in from the fields that evening. Leah went out to meet him. “You have to sleep with me tonight,” she said. “I’ve traded my son’s mandrakes for that time with you.” So he slept with her that night.
17God listened to Leah. She became pregnant and had a fifth son by Jacob. 18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me because I gave my female servant to my husband.” So she named the boy Issachar.
19Leah became pregnant again. She had a sixth son by Jacob. 20Then Leah said, “God has given me a priceless gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor. I’ve had six sons by him.” So she named the boy Zebulun.
21Some time later she had a daughter. She named her Dinah.
22Then God listened to Rachel. He showed concern for her. He made it possible for her to have children. 23She became pregnant and had a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24She said, “May the Lord give me another son.” So she named him Joseph.
Jacob Becomes the Owner of Large Flocks
25After Rachel had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, “Send me on my way. I want to go back to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and children. I worked for you to get them. So I’ll be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27But Laban said to him, “If you are pleased with me, stay here. I’ve discovered that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28He continued, “Name your pay. I’ll give it to you.”
29Jacob said to him, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you. You know that your livestock has done better under my care. 30You had only a little before I came. But that little has become a lot. The Lord has blessed you everywhere I’ve been. But when can I do something for my own family?”
31“What should I give you?” Laban asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “Just do one thing for me. Then I’ll go on taking care of your flocks and watching over them. 32Let me go through all your flocks today. Let me remove every speckled or spotted sheep. Let me remove every dark-colored lamb. Let me remove every speckled or spotted goat. They will be my pay. 33My honesty will be a witness about me in days to come. It will be a witness every time you check on what you have paid me. Suppose I have a goat that doesn’t have speckles or spots. Or suppose I have a lamb that isn’t dark colored. Then it will be considered stolen.”
34“I agree,” said Laban. “Let’s do what you have said.” 35That same day Laban removed all the male goats that had stripes or spots. He removed all the female goats that had speckles or spots. They were the ones that had white on them. He also removed all the dark-colored lambs. He had his sons take care of them. 36Then he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob. But Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Jacob took freshly cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees. He made white stripes on the branches by peeling off their bark. 38Then he placed the peeled branches in all the stone tubs where the animals drank water. He placed them there so they would be right in front of the flocks when they came to drink. The flocks were ready to mate when they came to drink. 39So they mated in front of the branches. And the flocks gave birth to striped, speckled or spotted little ones. 40Jacob put the little ones of the flock to one side by themselves. But he made the older ones face the striped and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. In that way, he made separate flocks for himself. He didn’t put them with Laban’s animals. 41Every time the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the branches in the stone tubs. He would place them in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches. 42But if the animals were weak, he wouldn’t place the branches there. So the weak animals went to Laban. And the strong ones went to Jacob. 43That’s how Jacob became very rich. He became the owner of large flocks. He also had many male and female servants. And he had many camels and donkeys.
