1 Vendo Raquel que não dava filhos a Jacó, teve inveja da sua irmã e disse a Jacó: Dá-me filhos, ou senão morro.2 Então se acendeu a ira de Jacó contra Raquel, e perguntou: Acaso estou eu em lugar de Deus, que te há negado o fruto do ventre?3 Respondeu ela: Eis a minha serva Bila recebe-a por mulher; para que ela dê à luz sobre os meus joelhos, e eu também seja dela edificada.4 Assim lhe deu a Bila, sua serva, por mulher, e Jacó esteve com ela.5 Concebeu Bila e deu à luz um filho a Jacó.6 Então disse Raquel: Julgou-me Deus e também ouviu a minha voz e deu-me um filho; portanto lhe chamou Dã.7 Concebeu outra vez Bila, serva de Raquel, e deu à luz um segundo filho a Jacó.8 Disse Raquel: Com grandes lutas tenho lutado com minha irmã, e tenho prevalecido; e chamou-lhe Naftali.9 Vendo Lia que ela tinha cessado de ter filhos, tomou a Zilpa, sua serva e deu-a a Jacó por mulher.10 Zilpa, serva de Lia, deu a Jacó um filho.11 Disse Lia: Afortunada! e chamou-lhe Gade.12 Depois Zilpa, serva de Lia, deu a Jacó um segundo filho.13 Então disse Lia: Feliz sou eu! pois as filhas me chamarão feliz; e chamou-lhe Aser.14 Foi Rúben nos dias da ceifa do trigo e achou mandrágoras no campo, e trouxe-as a Lia, sua mãe. Então disse Raquel a Lia: Dá-me das mandrágoras de teu filho.15 Respondeu-lhe Lia: Porventura é pouca coisa teres-me tirado meu marido? queres tirar também as mandrágoras de meu filho? Prosseguiu Raquel: Portanto ele se deitará contigo esta noite pelas mandrágoras de teu filho.16 Vindo Jacó do campo à tarde, saiu-lhe Lia ao encontro e disse: Hás de dormir comigo, porque certamente te aluguei pelas mandrágoras de meu filho. E com ela deitou-se Jacó aquela noite.17 Ouviu Deus a Lia, e ela concebeu e deu a Jacó um quinto filho.18 Então disse Lia: Deus deu-me o meu pago, porque dei a minha serva a meu marido; e chamou-lhe Issacar.19 Concebendo Lia outra vez, deu a Jacó um sexto filho.20 E disse: Deus tem-me dado um bom dote; desta vez morará comigo meu marido, porque lhe tenho dado seis filhos: e chamou-lhe Zebulom.21 Depois disto deu à luz uma filha, e chamou-lhe Diná.22 Lembrou-se Deus de Raquel, ouviu-a e fê-la fecunda.23 Ela concebeu, deu à luz um filho e disse: Tirou-me Deus o opróbrio;24 e chamou-lhe José, dizendo: Dê-me Jeová ainda outro filho.25 Tendo Raquel dado à luz a José, disse Jacó a Labão: Despede-me para que eu vá ao meu lugar e à minha terra.26 Dá-me minhas mulheres e meus filhos, pelos quais te hei servido, e deixa-me ir; pois tu sabes o meu serviço, com que te hei servido.27 Respondeu-lhe Labão: Se tenho achado graça aos teus olhos, fica comigo; pois tenho alcançado por experiência que Deus me abençoou por amor de ti.28 Proseguir: Determina-me o teu salário, que to darei.29 Respondeu-lhe Jacó: Tu sabes como te hei servido, e como tem passado o teu gado comigo.30 Porque era pouca coisa que tinhas antes da minha vinda, e tem-se multiplicado em multidão; Jeová te há abençoado por onde quer que eu fui. Agora, pois, quando farei eu provisão também para minha casa?31 Perguntou-lhe Labão: Que te darei? Respondeu-lhe Jacó: Não me darás nada; se me fizeres isto tornarei a apascentar o teu rebanho e guardá-lo.32 Passarei hoje por todo o teu rebanho, separando dele os salpicados e malhados, e todos os que são negros entre as ovelhas e todos os malhados e salpicados entre as cabras; e isso será o meu salário.33 Assim responderá por mim a minha justiça, no dia de amanhã, quando vieres ver o meu salário, que está diante de ti; todo o que não for salpicado e malhado entre as cabras e negro entre as ovelhas, esse, se for achado comigo, será tido por furtado.34 Disse Labão: Oxalá que seja conforme a tua palavra.35 Ele separou naquele mesmo dia os bodes listrados e malhados e todas as cabras salpicadas e malhadas, todos que tinham algum branco e todos os negros entre as ovelhas, e os entregou às mãos de seus filhos;36 pôs o espaço de três dias de jornada entre si e Jacó, e Jacó apascentava o restante dos rebanhos de Labão.37 Jacó tomou umas varas verdes de álamo, de aveleira e de plátano; e descascando-as em riscas brancas, fez aparecer o branco que nelas havia.38 As varas que descascara pôs em frente dos rebanhos no fundo dos tanques de água aonde vinham a beber, e conceberam quando vinham a beber.39 Os rebanhos concebiam diante das varas, e pariam listrados, salpicados e malhados.40 Separou Jacó os cordeiros, e fez os rebanhos olhar para os listrados e para os negros do rebanho de Labão; pôs o seu rebanho à parte, e não o ajuntou ao rebanho de Labão.41 Todas as vezes que concebiam as ovelhas fortes, punha Jacó as varas diante dos olhos do rebanho no fundo dos tanques para que concebessem entre as varas;42 mas, quando o rebanho era fraco, não as punha: assim as fracas eram de Labão, e as fortes de Jacó.43 O homem aumentou sobremaneira as suas posses e teve grandes rebanhos, servos, servas, camelos e jumentos.

1 And Rachel, seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.2 And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?3 But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.4 And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,5 When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.6 And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son, and therefore she called his name Dan.7 And again Bala conceived and bore another,8 For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephtali.9 Lia, perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha her handmaid to her husband.10 And when she had conceived and brought forth a son,11 She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.12 Zelpha also bore another.13 And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.14 And Ruben, going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.15 She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.16 And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for my son's mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.17 And God heard her prayers: and she conceived and bore the fifth son,18 And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.19 And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,20 And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.21 After whom she bore a daughter, named Diana.22 The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.23 And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken my reproach.24 And she called his name Joseph, saying: The Lord give me also another son.25 And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me away that I may return into my country, and to my land.26 Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.27 Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.28 Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.29 But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.30 Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable therefore that I should now provide also for my own house.31 And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy sheep again.32 Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled: and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep, as among the goats, shall be my wages.33 And my justice shall answer for me to morrow before thee when the time of the bargain shall come: and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.34 And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.35 And he separated the name day the she goats, and the sheep, and the he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted: and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.36 And he set the space of three days' journey betwixt himself and his son in law, who fed the rest of his flock.37 And Jacob took green robs of poplar, and of almond, and of place trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.38 And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out: that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.39 And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.40 And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were Laban's: and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one from the other.41 So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the roughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking upon them:42 But when the latter coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were late ward, become Laban's: and they of the first time, Jacob's.43 And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks, maid servants and men servants, camels and asses.