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31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³²Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben;^* for she said, ‘Because the Lord has looked on my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.’ ³³She conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Because the Lord has heard^* that I am hated, he has given me this son also’; and she named him Simeon. ³⁴Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, ‘Now this time my husband will be joined^* to me, because I have borne him three sons’; therefore he was named Levi. ³⁵She conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘This time I will praise^* the Lord’; therefore she named him Judah; then she ceased bearing.

30When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I shall die!’ ²Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?’ ³Then she said, ‘Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.’ ⁴So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, ‘God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son’; therefore she named him Dan.^{* 7}Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, ‘With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled^* with my sister, and have prevailed’; so she named him Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹And Leah said, ‘Good fortune!’ so she named him Gad.^{* 12}Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³And Leah said, ‘Happy am I! For the women will call me happy’; so she named him Asher.^*

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ ¹⁵But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?’ Rachel said, ‘Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.’ ¹⁶When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, ‘You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, ‘God has given me my hire^* because I gave my maid to my husband’; so she named him Issachar. ¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honour^* me, because I have borne him six sons’; so she named him Zebulun. ²¹Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. ²³She conceived and bore a son, and said, ‘God has taken away my reproach’; ²⁴and she named him Joseph,^* saying, ‘May the Lord add to me another son!’