New Living Translation NLT
King James Version KJV
1 When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
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And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
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And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her I can have a family, too.”
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And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.
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And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
5 Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son.
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And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 Rachel named him Dan, for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.”
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And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
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And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
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And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
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When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son.
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And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11 Leah named him Gad, for she said, “How fortunate I am!”
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And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son.
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And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”
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And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
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And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
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And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
16 So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah.
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And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17 And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
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And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
18 She named him Issachar, for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.”
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And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.
19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
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And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20 She named him Zebulun, for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.”
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And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
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And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.
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And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said.
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And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
24 And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the LORD add yet another son to my family.”
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And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
25 Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country.
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And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
26 Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”
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Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
27 “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for the LORD has blessed me because of you.
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And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
28 Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
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And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29 Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.
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And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30 You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The LORD has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”
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For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
31 “What wages do you want?” Laban asked again. Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.
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And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:
32 Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages.
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I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
33 In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”
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So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
34 “All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.”
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And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
35 But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons,
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And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
36 who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
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And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
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And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
38 Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated.
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And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
39 And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
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And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.
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And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.
41 Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches.
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And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
42 But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s.
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But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43 As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.
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And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.