- And Rachel having perceived that she
bore Jacob no children, was jealous of her
sister; and said to Jacob, Give me children;
and if not, I shall die.
- And Jacob was
angry with Rachel, and said to her, Am I in
the place of God, who has deprived thee of
the fruit of the womb?
- And Rachel said
to Jacob, Behold my handmaid Balla, go in
to her, and she shall bear upon my knees,
and I also shall have children by her.
- And
she gave him Balla her maid, for a wife to
him; and Jacob went in to her.
- And Balla,
Rachel's maid, conceived, and bore Jacob a
son.
- And Rachel said, God has given
judgment for me, and hearkened to my
voice, and has given me a son; therefore she
called his name, Dan.
- And Balla, Rachel's
maid, conceived yet again, and bore a second
son to Jacob.
- And Rachel said, God has
helped me, and I contended with my sister
and prevailed; and she called his name, Nephthalim.
- And Lea saw that she ceased from
bearing, and she took Zelpha her maid, and
gave her to Jacob for a wife; and he went in
to her.
- And Zelpha the maid of Lea conceived,
and bore Jacob a son.
- And Lea
said, It is happily: and she called his name,
Gad.
- And Zelpha the maid of Lea conceived
yet again, and bore Jacob a second
son.
- And Lea said, I am blessed, for the
women will pronounce me blessed; and she
called his name, Aser.
- And Ruben went
in the day of barley-harvest, and found
apples of mandrakes in the field, and brought
them to his mother Lea; and Rachel said to
Lea her sister, Give me of thy son's mandrakes.
- And Lea said, Is it not enough
for thee that thou hast taken my husband,
wilt thou also take my son's mandrakes?
And Rachel said, Not so: let him lie with
thee to-night for thy son's mandrakes.
- And
Jacob came in out of the field at even; and
Lea went forth to meet him, and said, Thou
shalt come in to me this day, for I have
hired thee for my son's mandrakes; and he
lay with her that night.
- And God hearkened
to Lea, and she conceived, and bore
Jacob a fifth son.
- And Lea said, God has
given me my reward, because I gave my
maid to my husband; and she called his
name Issachar, which is, Reward.
- And
Lea conceived again, and bore Jacob a sixth
son.
- And Lea said, God has given me a
good gift in this time; my husband will
choose me, for I have born him six sons:
and she called his name, Zabulon.
- And
after this she bore a daughter; and she
called her name, Dina.
- And God remembered
Rachel, and God hearkened to her,
and he opened her womb.
- And she conceived,
and bore Jacob a son; and Rachel
said, God has taken away my reproach.
- And she called his name Joseph, saying,
Let God add to me another son.
- And it came to pass when Rachel had
born Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me
away, that I may go to my place and to my
land.
- Restore my wives and my children,
for whom I have served thee, that I may
depart, for thou knowest the service wherewith
I have served thee.
- And Laban
said to him, If I have found grace in thy
sight, [a] I would augur well, for the Lord
has blessed me at thy coming in.
- Appoint
[b] me thy wages, and I will give them.
- And
Jacob said, Thou knowest in what things
I have served thee, and how many cattle
of thine are with me.
- For it was little
thou hadst before my time, and it is increased
to a multitude, and the Lord God
has blessed thee [c] since my coming; now
then, when shall I set up also my own
house?
- And Laban said to him, What
shall I give thee? and Jacob said to him,
Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou
wilt do this thing for me, I will again tend
thy flocks and keep them.
- Let all thy
sheep pass by to-day, and separate thence
every grey sheep among the rams, and every
one that is speckled and spotted among
the goats -- this shall be my reward.
- And
my righteousness shall [d] answer for me
on the morrow, for it is my reward before
thee: whatever shall not be spotted
and speckled among the goats, and grey
among the rams, shall be stolen with me.
- And Laban said to him, Let it be according
to thy word.
- And he separated in
that day the spotted and speckled he-goats,
and all the spotted and speckled she-goats,
and all that was grey among the rams, and
every one that was white among them,
and he gave them into the hand of his sons.
- And he set a distance of a three days'
journey between them [e] and Jacob. And
Jacob tended the cattle of Laban that
were left behind.
- And Jacob took to himself
green rods of storax tree and walnut
and plane-tree; and Jacob peeled in them
white stripes; and as [f] he drew off the
green, the white stripe which he had made
appeared alternate on the rods.
- And
he laid the rods which he had peeled, in
the hollows of the watering-troughs, that
whensoever the cattle should come to
drink, as they should have come to drink
before the rods, the cattle might conceive
at the rods.
- So the cattle conceived
at the rods, and the cattle brought forth
young speckled, and streaked and spotted
with ash-coloured spots.
- And Jacob
separated the lambs, and set before the
sheep a speckled ram, and every variegated
one among the lambs, and he separated
flocks for himself alone, and did not
mingle them with the sheep of Laban.
- And it came to pass in the time wherein
the cattle became pregnant, conceiving in the
belly, Jacob put the rods before the cattle in
the troughs, that they might conceive by the
rods. [g]
- But he did not put them in indiscriminately
whenever the cattle happened to
bring forth, but the unmarked ones were
Laban's, and the marked ones were Jacob's.
- And
the man became very rich, and he had many
cattle, and oxen, and servants, and maid-servants,
and camels, and asses.
[a] Stay thou, perhaps understood.
Heb. I have argued that, etc.
[b] Lit. thy wages to or with me.
[c] So A.V. but Gr. and Heb.
literally, at my foot.
[d] Hearken to or obey me.
[e] Gr. and between. Hebraism.
[f] Apparently the nom. absol.
[g] The meaning of the Hebrew seems to be,
when the cattle were weak from any cause. The LXX. by assigning
the yeaning time as the cause, have obscured the passage. Of course
Jacob would not put them in then.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]