Genesis 30:1-43

When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, her jealousy toward her sister simmered. So, she said to Jacob, “Give me sons, or I’ll die!” Jacob became furious with Rachel and said, “Am I God? He’s the one keeping you from bearing children!” She replied, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can be my surrogate; then I can have children through her and build a family.” So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as another wife, and Jacob slept with her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son, and Rachel named him Dan, saying, “God has vindicated me. He heard my voice and gave me a son.” Then her servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel named him Naphtali, saying, “I have wrestled mightily with my sister, and I won!” Meanwhile, when Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as another wife. Zilpah bore Jacob a son, and Leah named him Gad, saying, “What good fortune!” Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, and Leah named him Asher, saying, “Oh happy day! All the women will say, ‘She’s happy now!’ ” One day, during wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrake plants in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” Leah replied, “You already took away the affection of my husband, so now you’re going to take my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel said, “All right then, I’ll let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for some of your son’s mandrakes.” That evening, when Jacob was coming home from the field, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me tonight, for I’ve paid for your services with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with Leah that night. God listened compassionately to Leah’s cry, she became pregnant, and bore Jacob a fifth son, whom she named Issachar, saying, “God rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” Once again, Leah conceived and bore Jacob a sixth son, whom she named Zebulun, saying, “God has given me good gifts for my husband! Now he will accept me, for I’ve given him six sons.” Lastly, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. God listened to Rachel’s heart-cry, and had compassion on her, and made her fertile. She conceived, and bore a son, and named him Joseph, saying, “God has taken away my disgrace. May YAHWEH add to me another son.” After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Release me to go back home to my homeland. You know how hard I’ve worked for you these many years to finish paying for my two wives. Give them to me along with my children, and I’ll be on my way.” Laban countered, “If you please, I have learned by divine inquiry that I have become prosperous because of you and the blessing of YAHWEH that’s on your life. Just name your price, and I’ll give it to you.” Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you and how your livestock has increased under my care. The little you had before I came has multiplied greatly, for YAHWEH has blessed you wonderfully because I am here. But now, I need to provide for my own family, too.” So Laban asked, “What should I give you?” “Nothing,” Jacob replied, “You don’t need to give me a thing. If you will do but one thing for me, I will continue to care for your flocks: Just let me pass through all your flocks today and take out every speckled and spotted sheep or goat, and every black lamb. That’s all the payment I ask. And in the future, when you review my wages, the integrity of my dealings with you will be obvious. If you find any animal among mine that is not speckled, spotted, or black, then you will know that I stole it.” “Agreed!” Laban said. “We’ll do what you’ve suggested.” But that same day, Laban secretly removed all the male and female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had white on them) and all the black lambs and left them under the care of his sons. He set a distance of a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks. Jacob, however, cut green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled back part of their bark, to expose the white inner wood of the branches. Then he set the partially peeled branches inside the water troughs where the goats would see them when they came to drink. For they mated when they came to the water troughs, and as they lowered their heads to drink, they saw the stripped branches in front of their eyes. Miraculously they gave birth to streaked, speckled, and spotted young. But with the mating ewes, on the other hand, he made them face the streaked or completely black animals in Laban’s flock. By doing this, he produced his own special flocks, which he didn’t allow to mingle with Laban’s. Moreover, every time the stronger females were in heat, Jacob laid the partially peeled branches in the water troughs in front of the flock, so that they would mate among the branches. But he didn’t place the branches in front of the scrawny goats when they mated, leaving the feeble animals for Laban and the stronger for himself. In this way, Jacob quickly grew very wealthy and owned large flocks, a great number of camels and donkeys, and many male and female servants.