Genesis 30:1-24 - Jacob's Children
1 Rachel had not borne Jacob any children. As a result, she became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob: Give me children, or I will die.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel. He said: I cannot take the place of God. He is the one who keeps you from having children.
3 She said: Here is my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her, so that she can have a child for me. This way I can become a mother through her. 4 Then Rachel let Jacob marry Bilhah. Jacob slept with Bilhah. 5 They had a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan, because she said: God has answered my prayers. He has vindicated me and given me a son.
7 Bilhah and Jacob had a second son. 8 Rachel said: I have struggled hard with my sister, and I have won! So she named the boy Naphtali.
9 When Leah realized she could not have any more children, she let Jacob marry her servant Zilpah. 10 They had a son. 11 Leah said: How fortunate. She called him Gad.
12 Leah's slave Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. 13 Leah said: I am happy, for women will call me blessed. So she named him Asher.
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields. He found some mandrake plants. He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah: Please, give me some of your son's mandrake plants.
15 Leah replied: Is it not enough that you took my husband? Are you also going to take my son's mandrake plants? Rachel responded: Very well, Jacob can go to bed with you tonight in return for your son's mandrake plants.
16 Jacob came in from the fields that evening. Leah went out to meet him. You are to sleep with me, she said. You are my reward for my son's mandrake plants. So he went to bed with her that night.
17 God answered Leah's prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said: God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband. So she named him Issachar. 19 She became pregnant again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. 20 Leah said: God has presented me with a wonderful gift. This time my husband will honor me, because I have given him six sons. So she named him Zebulun. 21 Later she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and gave birth to a son. She said: God has taken away my reproach. 24 She named him Joseph. She said: May Jehovah give me another son.