Genesis 30:1-24

1Rachel now knew that she could not give birth to any children for Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. Rachel said to Jacob, ‘Please give me children. If not, I will die.’

2Jacob became angry with Rachel. He said, ‘Am I God? God has stopped you from giving birth to children!’

3Rachel said, ‘Take my servant Bilhah and have sex with her. Then she can have children on my behalf. Through her, I can have a family.’

4So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob to become his wife.

5Bilhah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son for Jacob.

6Rachel said, ‘God has shown that I am right. He has listened to me and he has given a son to me.’ Because of this, she called the boy Dan.

7Rachel's servant Bilhah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son for Jacob.

8Rachel said, ‘I have fought with my sister and I have won.’ She called this son Naphtali.

9Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

10Zilpah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son for Jacob.

11Leah said, ‘This is very good.’ She called the boy Gad.

12Leah's servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.

13Leah said, ‘I am very happy! Women will call me happy.’ So she called this boy Asher.

14It was the time for the harvest of wheat. Reuben went out and he found some mandrake plants in a field. He took them to his mother, Leah. Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of the mandrakes that your son gave to you.’

15But Leah said to Rachel, ‘You took my husband from me. That was bad enough! Now you want to take my son's mandrakes too!’ Rachel said, ‘OK. If you give me some of your son's mandrakes, Jacob can sleep with you tonight.’

16In the evening, Jacob came in from the fields. Leah went out to meet him. She said, ‘You must sleep with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes.’ So Jacob slept with Leah that night.

17God listened to Leah and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

18Leah said, ‘God has helped me because I gave my servant to Jacob as a wife.’ She called her son Issachar.

19Leah became pregnant again and she gave Jacob a sixth son.

20Leah said, ‘God has given me this valuable gift. Now my husband will respect me because I have given him six sons.’ She called this son Zebulun.

21After some time, Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to a daughter. She called her daughter Dinah.

22Then God decided to help Rachel. He listened to her and he let her become pregnant.

23She became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. Rachel said, ‘I am not ashamed any longer, because God has given me a son.’

24Rachel called her son Joseph. She said, ‘I pray that the Lord will give me another son.’