Genesis 30

All 43 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1When Rachel realized she had not given Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. She told Jacob, "Give me children, or I will die."
2. 2Jacob became angry with Rachel and replied, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"
3. 3She said, "Here is my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her so that she can bear children on my behalf, and through her I too can have children."
4. 4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with her.
5. 5Bilhah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
6. 6Rachel said, "God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son." So she named him Dan.
7. 7Bilhah, Rachel's servant, became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob.
8. 8Rachel said, "I have wrestled greatly with my sister, and I have prevailed." So she named him Naphtali.
9. 9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10. 10Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a son for Jacob.
11. 11Leah said, "A troop is coming," and she named him Gad.
12. 12Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a second son for Jacob.
13. 13Leah said, "How happy I am! Women will call me blessed." So she named him Asher.
14. 14During the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and discovered mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15. 15Leah replied, "Isn't it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you want to take my son's mandrakes too?" Rachel answered, "Then he will lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."
16. 16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come to me tonight, because I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night.
17. 17God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
18. 18Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.
19. 19Leah became pregnant once more and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
20. 20Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.
21. 21Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22. 22Then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her womb.
23. 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, saying, "God has removed my disgrace."
24. 24She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD give me yet another son."
25. 25After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Let me leave so I can return to my own homeland."
26. 26"Give me my wives and children, for whom I have worked for you, and let me go. You know well how hard I have labored for you."
27. 27Laban replied, "Please, if I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have discovered through experience that the LORD has blessed me because of you."
28. 28He continued, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
29. 29Jacob told him, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me."
30. 30"What you owned before I arrived was very little, but now it has grown enormously. The LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But when will I be able to provide for my own household?"
31. 31Laban asked, "What should I give you?" Jacob answered, "You don't need to give me anything. Just do this one thing for me, and I will continue tending and watching over your flock."
32. 32I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted cattle, all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. These will be my hire.
33. 33"My righteousness will testify for me in the future, whenever you come to inspect my wages: any goat that is not speckled or spotted, and any sheep that is not dark-colored, you may consider stolen if found with me."
34. 34Laban said, "Agreed! Let it be exactly as you have proposed."
35. 35But that very day, Laban removed all the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had any white on it, and all the dark-colored sheep, and placed them in the care of his sons.
36. 36Then he put a distance of three days' travel between himself and Jacob. Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.
37. 37Jacob took fresh branches from poplar, hazel, and chestnut trees, and peeled strips of bark from them, exposing the white wood underneath.
38. 38He placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, right in front of them, so that the animals would mate when they came to drink.
39. 39The flocks mated in front of the branches and produced offspring that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40. 40Jacob separated these lambs and directed the flocks to face toward the streaked and dark-colored animals in Laban's flock. He kept his own animals apart and did not mix them with Laban's livestock.
41. 41Whenever the stronger animals were mating, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs right before their eyes so they would breed near the branches.
42. 42But when the weaker animals were mating, he did not put the branches there. So the weaker ones went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.
43. 43In this way, Jacob grew extremely prosperous. He acquired large flocks, female and male servants, camels, and donkeys.