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.
1拉結見自己沒有給雅各生孩子，就嫉妒姐姐。她對雅各說：「你給我孩子，不然我還不如死了！」 2雅各氣憤地說：「使你不能生育的是上帝，難道我能代替上帝嗎？」 3拉結說：「你去跟我的婢女辟拉同房吧，這樣她可以為我生孩子，我也可以留下後代。」 4於是拉結把婢女辟拉給丈夫做妾，雅各和辟拉同房。 5辟拉懷了孕，為雅各生下一個兒子。 6拉結說：「上帝為我申了冤，也聽了我的懇求，賜給我一個兒子。」拉結就給孩子取名叫但30·6 「但」意思是「伸冤」。。 7拉結的婢女辟拉又懷孕，為雅各生了第二個兒子。 8拉結說：「我跟姐姐相爭，我得勝了。」她就給這孩子取名叫拿弗他利30·8 「拿弗他利」意思是「相爭」。。
9利亞見自己不再生育，就把婢女悉帕給雅各做妾。 10悉帕給雅各生了一個兒子。 11利亞說：「真幸運！」她便給孩子取名叫迦得30·11 「迦得」意思是「幸運」。。 12悉帕又給雅各生了第二個兒子， 13利亞說：「我真有福啊！婦女們會說我有福！」她就為孩子取名亞設30·13 「亞設」意思是「有福」。。
14在收麥子的季節，呂便在田間找到一些風茄，拿回家給母親利亞。拉結知道後，對利亞說：「請給我一些你兒子找到的風茄。」 15利亞說：「你搶了我丈夫還不夠嗎？現在還要搶我兒子的風茄嗎？」拉結回答說：「你給我風茄，今夜雅各就跟你同房。」 16那天晚上，雅各從田間回來，利亞就出來迎接他說：「你要來跟我同房，因為我已經用兒子的風茄把你雇下來了。」於是，那天晚上雅各便跟利亞同房。 17上帝答應利亞的祈求，使她懷孕，為雅各生了第五個兒子。 18利亞說：「我把婢女送給丈夫做妾，現在上帝給我報酬了。」因此，她就為孩子取名叫以薩迦30·18 「以薩迦」意思是「報酬」。。
19後來，利亞又懷孕，給雅各生下第六個兒子。 20她說：「上帝賜給我珍貴的禮物，現在我丈夫會尊重我，因為我給他生了六個兒子。」於是，她就給這個兒子取名叫西布倫30·20 「西布倫」意思是「尊重」。。 21後來，利亞又生了一個女兒，給她取名叫底娜。
22上帝眷顧拉結，聽了她的禱告，使她可以生育。 23她就懷孕，生了一個兒子，說：「上帝除去了我的羞辱。」 24她給孩子取名叫約瑟30·24 「約瑟」意思是「增添」。，又說：「願上帝再給我添一個兒子！」
雅各與拉班的協議
25拉結生約瑟以後，雅各對拉班說：「請讓我走吧！我想回故鄉， 26請你讓我和妻兒一同回去吧！她們都是我替你工作得來的，你知道我怎樣努力為你工作。」
27拉班卻挽留他，說：「如果你肯賞光，請你留下來！因為我占卜得知上帝為了你的緣故才賜福給我。 28你要多少酬勞，只管說出來，我一定會給你。」
29雅各回答說：「你知道我怎樣努力地服侍你，照顧你的牲畜。 30我來以前，你的財產很少。上帝因為我的到來而賜福給你，使你財產大增。但我自己什麼時候才能興家立業呢？」
31拉班問：「我該給你什麼呢？」雅各說：「你不用給我什麼，只要你答應一件事，我就繼續照料你的羊群。 32今天讓我從你的羊群中挑出黑色或有斑點的綿羊，以及有斑點的山羊作為我的薪酬。 33以後，如果你在給我作薪酬的羊群中發現白色的綿羊或沒有斑點的山羊，就算是我偷的。這樣你可以知道我是否誠實。」
34拉班說：「好，就照你的話做！」 35當天，拉班把有條紋或斑點的公山羊以及有斑點或夾雜白紋的母山羊，連同黑色的綿羊都挑出來，交給自己的兒子們看管。 36然後，他離開雅各，彼此相隔三天的路程。雅各繼續為他照料其餘的羊。
37雅各折下一些楊樹、杏樹和楓樹的嫩枝，削掉部分樹皮，露出白色的條紋， 38然後把這些嫩枝插在羊喝水的水槽和水溝裡。羊群來喝水時互相交配。 39牠們對著這些樹枝交配，就生下有條紋和有斑點的羊羔。 40雅各把這些羊羔分出來，使牠們與拉班的羊各在一處。他把自己的羊安置在一處，不與拉班的羊攙雜在一起。 41每當肥壯的羊交配時，雅各就把有條紋的枝子插在水溝裡，使羊對著樹枝交配。 42但如果交配的羊是瘦弱的，他就不插枝子。這樣，瘦弱的羊歸拉班，肥壯的羊歸雅各。 43因此，雅各變得極其富有，擁有很多羊、駱駝、驢和僕婢。
