1 Rachel saw that she was bearing Jacob no children, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me sons, or I will die!"
2 Jacob grew angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in God's place? He is the one who has kept you from bearing children."
3 She said, "Here is my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her, so that she may give birth on my knees and I too may build a family through her."
4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with her.
5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has also heard my voice and given me a son." For that reason she named him Dan.
7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived once more and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Rachel said, "I have fought fierce struggles with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11 Leah said, "Good fortune has come!" So she named him Gad.
12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13 Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went out and came across some mandrakes in the field, and he brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please let me have some of your son's mandrakes."
15 But Leah said to her, "Was it not enough to take away my husband? Now you want my son's mandrakes too?" Rachel said, "Very well, he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."
16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "It is me you must sleep with, for I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes." So that night he slept with her.
17 God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Leah said, "God has paid me my wages for giving my servant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.
19 Leah conceived once more and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Leah said, "God has presented me with a fine gift. This time my husband will honor me, for I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.
21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel; God heard her and opened her womb.
23 She conceived and had a son, and she said, "God has removed my disgrace."
24 She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD add another son to me."
25 After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Let me go, so that I can return to my own home and my own land.
26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have worked for you, and let me go. You yourself know how I have worked for you."
27 Laban said to him, "If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me on your account."
28 He went on, "Name your wage, and I will pay it."
29 Jacob answered him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared in my care.
30 The little you had before I came has grown into a great deal, and the LORD has blessed you at every step I took. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
31 Laban asked, "What shall I give you?" Jacob replied, "Do not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will go back to pasturing and keeping your flock.
32 Let me go through all your flock today and take out of it every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark lamb among the lambs, and every spotted or speckled one among the goats. They will be my wages.
33 My honesty will answer for me in days to come, whenever you come to check on my wages: any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark, will be counted as stolen."
34 Laban said, "Agreed. Let it be as you say."
35 That same day Laban took out the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one that had some white on it, and every dark one among the lambs, and he put them in the care of his sons.
36 He put a three days' journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob went on pasturing the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 Jacob then took freshly cut branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white of the branches.
38 He placed the peeled branches in the troughs at the watering places, facing the flocks, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.
39 The flocks mated in front of the branches, and they bore young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob set the lambs apart, and he made the flocks face the streaked and all the dark animals in Laban's flock. So he formed separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban's flock.
41 Whenever the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so that they would mate among the branches.
42 But when the animals were feeble, he did not place them there. So the feeble ones went to Laban, and the sturdy ones to Jacob.
43 In this way the man became exceedingly prosperous, and he came to own large flocks, female and male servants, camels, and donkeys.