Genesis 30

1And Rachel, seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.

2And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?

3But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

4And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

5When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.

6And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son, and therefore she called his name Dan.

7And again Bala conceived and bore another,

8For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephtali.

9Lia, perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha her handmaid to her husband.

10And when she had conceived and brought forth a son,

11She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.

12Zelpha also bore another.

13And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

14And Ruben, going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son’s mandrakes.

15She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son’s mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son’s mandrakes.

16And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for my son’s mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.

17And God heard her prayers: and she conceived and bore the fifth son,

18And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.

19And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,

20And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.

21After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.

22The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.

23And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken away my reproach.

24And she called his name Joseph, saying: The Lord give me also another son.

25And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me away that I may return into my country, and to my land.

26Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

27Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

28Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

29But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.

30Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable therefore that I should now provide also for my own house.

31And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy sheep again.

32Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled: and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep, as among the goats, shall be my wages.

33And my justice shall answer for me tomorrow before thee when the time of the bargain shall come: and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.

34And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

35And he separated the same day the she goats, and the sheep, and the he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted: and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.

36And he set the space of three days’ journey betwixt himself and his son in law, who fed the rest of his flock.

37And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.

38And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out: that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

39And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.

40And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were Laban’s: and the rest were Jacob’s, when the flocks were separated one from the other.

41So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking upon them:

42But when the latter coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban’s: and they of the first time, Jacob’s.

43And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks, maid servants and men servants, camels and asses.

1Cernens autem Rachel quod infecunda esset, invidit sorori suæ, et ait marito suo: Da mihi liberos, alioquin moriar.

2Cui iratus respondit Jacob: Num pro Deo ego sum, qui privavit te fructu ventris tui?

3At illa: Habeo, inquit, famulam Balam: ingredere ad illam, ut pariat super genua mea, et habeam ex illa filios.

4Deditque illi Balam in conjugium: quæ,

5ingresso ad se viro, concepit, et peperit filium.

6Dixitque Rachel: Judicavit mihi Dominus, et exaudivit vocem meam, dans mihi filium, et idcirco appellavit nomen ejus Dan.

7Rursumque Bala concipiens, peperit alterum,

8pro quo ait Rachel: Comparavit me Deus cum sorore mea, et invalui: vocavitque eum Nephthali.

9Sentiens Lia quod parere desiisset, Zelpham ancillam suam marito tradidit.

10Qua post conceptum edente filium,

11dixit: Feliciter, et idcirco vocavit nomen ejus Gad.

12Peperit quoque Zelpha alterum.

13Dixitque Lia: Hoc pro beatitudine mea: beatam quippe me dicent mulieres: propterea appellavit eum Aser.

14Egressus autem Ruben tempore messis triticeæ in agrum, reperit mandragoras, quas matri Liæ detulit. Dixitque Rachel: Da mihi partem de mandragoris filii tui.

15Illa respondit: Parumne tibi videtur quod præripueris maritum mihi, nisi etiam mandragoras filii mei tuleris? Ait Rachel: Dormiat tecum hac nocte pro mandragoris filii tui.

16Redeuntique ad vesperam Jacob de agro, egressa est in occursum ejus Lia, et Ad me, inquit, intrabis: quia mercede conduxi te pro mandragoris filii mei. Dormivitque cum ea nocte illa.

17Et exaudivit Deus preces ejus, concepitque et peperit filium quintum,

18et ait: Dedit Deus mercedem mihi, quia dedi ancillam meam viro meo: appellavitque nomen ejus Issachar.

19Rursum Lia concipiens, peperit sextum filium,

20et ait: Dotavit me Deus dote bona: etiam hac vice mecum erit maritus meus, eo quod genuerim ei sex filios: et idcirco appellavit nomen ejus Zabulon.

21Post quem peperit filiam, nomine Dinam.

22Recordatus quoque Dominus Rachelis, exaudivit eam, et aperuit vulvam ejus.

23Quæ concepit, et peperit filium, dicens: Abstulit Deus opprobrium meum.

24Et vocavit nomen ejus Joseph, dicens: Addat mihi Dominus filium alterum.

25Nato autem Joseph, dixit Jacob socero suo: Dimitte me ut revertar in patriam, et ad terram meam.

26Da mihi uxores, et liberos meos, pro quibus servivi tibi, ut abeam: tu nosti servitutem qua servivi tibi.

27Ait illi Laban: Inveniam gratiam in conspectu tuo, experimento didici, quia benedixerit mihi Deus propter te:

28constitue mercedem tuam quam dem tibi.

29At ille respondit: Tu nosti quomodo servierim tibi, et quanta in manibus meis fuerit possessio tua.

30Modicum habuisti antequam venirem ad te, et nunc dives effectus es: benedixitque tibi Dominus ad introitum meum. Justum est igitur ut aliquando provideam etiam domui meæ.

31Dixitque Laban: Quid tibi dabo? At ille ait: Nihil volo: sed si feceris quod postulo, iterum pascam, et custodiam pecora tua.

32Gyra omnes greges tuos, et separa cunctas oves varias, et sparso vellere; quodcumque furvum, et maculosum, variumque fuerit, tam in ovibus quam in capris, erit merces mea.

33Respondebitque mihi cras justitia mea, quando placiti tempus advenerit coram te: et omnia quæ non fuerint varia, et maculosa, et furva, tam in ovibus quam in capris, furti me arguent.

34Dixitque Laban: Gratum habeo quod petis.

35Et separavit in die illa capras, et oves, et hircos, et arietes varios, atque maculosos: cunctum autem gregem unicolorem, id est albi et nigri velleris, tradidit in manu filiorum suorum.

36Et posuit spatium itineris trium dierum inter se et generum, qui pascebat reliquos greges ejus.

37Tollens ergo Jacob virgas populeas virides, et amygdalinas, et ex platanis, ex parte decorticavit eas: detractisque corticibus, in his, quæ spoliata fuerant, candor apparuit: illa vero quæ integra fuerant, viridia permanserunt: atque in hunc modum color effectus est varius.

38Posuitque eas in canalibus, ubi effundebatur aqua: ut cum venissent greges ad bibendum, ante oculos haberent virgas, et in aspectu earum conciperent.

39Factumque est ut in ipso calore coitus, oves intuerentur virgas, et parerent maculosa, et varia, et diverso colore respersa.

40Divisitque gregem Jacob, et posuit virgas in canalibus ante oculos arietum: erant autem alba et nigra quæque, Laban; cetera vero, Jacob, separatis inter se gregibus.

41Igitur quando primo tempore ascendebantur oves, ponebat Jacob virgas in canalibus aquarum ante oculos arietum et ovium, ut in earum contemplatione conciperent:

42quando vero serotina admissura erat, et conceptus extremus, non ponebat eas. Factaque sunt ea quæ erant serotina, Laban: et quæ primi temporis, Jacob.

43Ditatusque est homo ultra modum, et habuit greges multos, ancillas et servos, camelos et asinos.

1Then Rachel, discerning that she was infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband, “Give me children, otherwise I will die.”

2Jacob, being angry, responded to her, “Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of your womb?”

3But she said: “I have a handmaid Bilhah. Go in to her, so that she may give birth upon my knees, and I may have sons by her.”

4And she gave him Bilhah in marriage.

5And when her husband had gone in to her, she conceived and bore a son.

6And Rachel said, “The Lord has judged for me, and he has heeded my voice, giving me a son.” And because of this, she called his name Dan.

7And conceiving again, Bilhah bore another,

8about whom Rachel said, “God has compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed.” And she called him Naphtali.

9Leah, perceiving that she had desisted from child-bearing, delivered Zilpah, her handmaid, to her husband.

10And she, after having borne a son with difficulty,

11said: “Happiness!” And for this reason, she called his name Gad.

12Likewise, Zilpah bore another.

13And Leah said, “This one is for my happiness. Indeed, women will call me blessed.” Because of this, she called him Asher.

14Then Reuben, going out into the field at the time of the wheat harvest, found mandrakes. These he brought to his mother Leah. And Rachel said, “Give me a portion of your son’s mandrakes.”

15She responded, “Does it seem like such a small matter to you, that you have usurped from me my husband, unless you will also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel said, “He will sleep with you this night because of your son’s mandrakes.”

16And when Jacob returned from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and she said, “You will enter to me, because I have hired you for the reward of my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night.

17And God heard her prayers. And she conceived and bore a fifth son.

18And she said, “God has given a reward to me, because I gave my handmaid to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar.

19Conceiving again, Leah bore a sixth son.

20And she said: “God has endowed me with a good dowry. And now, at this turn, my husband will be with me, because I have conceived six sons for him.” And therefore she called his name Zebulun.

21After him, she bore a daughter, named Dinah.

22The Lord, likewise remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb.

23And she conceived and bore a son, saying, “God has taken away my reproach.”

24And she called his name Joseph, saying, “The Lord has added to me another son.”

25But when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-in-law: “Release me, so that I may return to my native country and to my land.

26Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served you, so that I may depart. You know the servitude with which I have served you.”

27Laban said to him: “May I find grace in your sight. I have learned by experience that God has blessed me because of you.

28Choose your wages, which I will give you.”

29But he responded: “You know how I have served you, and how great your possession became in my hands.

30You had little before I came to you, and now you have achieved riches. And the Lord has blessed you since my arrival. It is just, therefore, that at some time I also should provide for my own house.”

31And Laban said, “What shall I give to you?” But he said, “I want nothing. But if you will do what I ask, I will feed and guard your sheep again.

32Go around through all your flocks and separate all the sheep of variegated or spotted fleece; and whatever will be darkened or blemished or variegated, as much among the sheep as among the goats, will be my wages.

33And my justice will answer on my behalf tomorrow, when the time of settlement arrives before you. And all that is not variegated or blemished or darkened, as much among the sheep as among the goats, these will prove me to be a thief.”

34And Laban said, “I hold favor for this request.”

35And on that day he separated the she-goats, and the sheep, and the he-goats, and the rams with variegations or with blemishes. But every one of the flock which was of one color, that is, of white or of black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.

36And he established a distance of three days journey between himself and his son-in-law, who pastured the remainder of his flock.

37Then Jacob, taking green branches of poplar, and almond, and sycamore trees, debarked them in part. And when the bark was pulled off, in the parts that were stripped, there appeared whiteness, yet the parts that were left whole, remained green. And so, in this way the color was made variegated.

38And he placed them in the troughs, where the water was poured out, so that when the flocks had arrived to drink, they would have the branches before their eyes, and in their sight they might conceive.

39And it happened that, in the very heat of joining together, the sheep looked upon the branches, and they bore the blemished and the variegated, those speckled with diverse color.

40And Jacob divided the flock, and he set the branches in the troughs before the eyes of the rams. Now whatever was white or black belonged to Laban, but, in truth, the others belonged to Jacob, for the flocks were dispersed among one another.

41Therefore, when the first to arrive were climbing on the ewes, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams and the sheep, so that they might conceive while they were gazing upon them.

42Yet when the late arrivals and the last to conceive were let in, he did not place these. And so those that arrived late became Laban’s, and those that arrived first became Jacob’s.

43And the man was enriched beyond limit, and he had many flocks, women servants and men servants, camels and donkeys.