Jacob’s Children
1 When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me children--if not, I will die!"
2
And Jacob {became angry} with Rachel. And he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
3
Then she said, "Here [is] my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children {as my surrogate}. Then I will even {have children} by her."
4
Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her
5
And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
6
Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.
7
And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob.
8
And Rachel said, "I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.
9
When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10
And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob.
11
Then Leah said, "Good fortune!" And she called his name Gad.
12
And Zilpah, Leah's female servant, bore a second son to Jacob.
13
Then Leah said, "How happy [am] I! For women have called me happy." So she called his name Asher.
14
And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15
And she said to her, "[Is] your taking my husband [such] a small [thing] that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?" Then Rachel said, "Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."
16
When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "Come in to me, for {I have hired} you with my son's mandrakes." And he slept with her that night.
17
And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
18
Then Leah said, "God has given [me] my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband." And she called his name Issachar.
19
And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
20
And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun.
21
And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah.
22
Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb.
23
And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, "God has taken away my disgrace."
24
And she called his name Joseph, saying, "Yahweh has added to me another son."