1. Mosebog 30 – BPH & NIV

Bibelen på hverdagsdansk

1. Mosebog 30:1-43

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.

New International Version

Genesis 30:1-43

1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

2Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

3Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”

4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5and she became pregnant and bore him a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.30:6 Dan here means he has vindicated.

7Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.30:8 Naphtali means my struggle.

9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”30:11 Or “A troop is coming!” So she named him Gad.30:11 Gad can mean good fortune or troop.

12Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.30:13 Asher means happy.

14During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”

“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

16So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

17God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.

19Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.30:20 Zebulun probably means honor.

21Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

22Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24She named him Joseph,30:24 Joseph means may he add. and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”

Jacob’s Flocks Increase

25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

29Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”

31“What shall I give you?” he asked.

“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 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. They will be my wages. 33And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”

34“Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

37Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 41Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.