1 Raquel, vendo que não dava filhos a Jacó, teve inveja de sua irmã: "Dá-me filhos, disse ela ao seu marido, senão morro!"2 E Jacó irritou-se com ela. "Acaso, disse ele, posso eu pôr-me no lugar de Deus que te recusou a fecundidade?"3 Ela respondeu: "Eis minha serva Bala: toma-a. Que ela dê à luz sobre os meus joelhos e assim, por ela, terei também filhos."4 Deu-lhe, pois, por mulher sua escrava Bala, da qual se aproximou Jacó.5 Bala concebeu e deu à luz um filho a Jacó.6 Disse então Raquel: "Deus fez-me justiça. Ele ouviu minha voz e deu-me um filho." Por isso ela o chamou Dã.7 Bala, escrava de Raquel, concebeu de novo e deu à luz um segundo filho a Jacó.8 Raquel disse: "Lutei contra minha irmã junto de Deus, e venci!" E deu ao menino o nome de Neftali.9 Lia, vendo que não concebia mais, tomou sua escrava Zelfa e deu-a por mulher a Jacó.10 Zelfa, escrava de Lia, deu à luz um filho a Jacó.11 Lia disse: "Que sorte!" E chamou-o Gad.12 Zelfa, escrava de Lia, deu à luz um segundo filho a Jacó.13 Lia disse: "Que felicidade! As mulheres me chamarão ditosa." E chamou-o Aser.14 Um dia, por ocasião da ceifa, Rubem saiu ao campo e, tendo encontrado umas mandrágoras, levou-as à sua mãe Lia. Raquel disse a Lia: "Rogo-te que me dês as mandrágoras do teu filho."15 Lia respondeu: "Já não é bastante o teres tomado meu marido, para que queiras ainda as mandrágoras do meu filho?" "Pois bem, tornou Raquel, em troca das mandrágoras do teu filho, que ele durma contigo esta noite."16 À noite, quando Jacó voltou do campo, Lia saiu-lhe ao encontro: "Vem comigo, disse-lhe ela, eu te aluguei em troca das mandrágoras do meu filho." E Jacó dormiu com ela aquela noite.17 Deus ouviu Lia, que concebeu e deu à luz um quinto filho a Jacó.18 "Deus, disse ela, recompensou-me por eu ter dado minha escrava ao meu marido." E o chamou Issacar.19 Lia concebeu ainda e deu à luz um sexto filho a Jacó.20 E disse: "Deus deu-me um belo presente; agora meu marido habitará comigo, pois que lhe dei à luz seis filhos." E o chamou Zabulon.21 Depois disso, deu à luz uma filha, a quem chamou Dina.22 Lembrou-se Deus de Raquel, ouviu-a e tornou-a fecunda.23 Raquel concebeu e deu à luz um filho. "Deus, disse ela, tirou o meu opróbrio."24 E chamou-o José, dizendo: "Dê-me o Senhor ainda outro filho!"25 Tendo Raquel dado à luz José, Jacó disse a Labão: "Deixa-me partir para a minha casa, na minha terra.26 Dá-me minhas mulheres e meus filhos, pelos quais te servi, a fim de que eu me vá; tu sabes quanto tempo servi em tua casa."27 Labão respondeu-lhe: "Se achei graça aos teus olho... reconheço que o Senhor me abençoou por causa de ti.28 Fixa-me o que devo dar-te, ajuntou ele, e dar-te-ei."29 Jacó disse-lhe: "Tu sabes como te tenho servido, e como aumentaram os teus rebanhos graças a mim.30 Tinhas pouca coisa, antes de minha chegada, e tudo aumentou depois. O Senhor abençoou-te a cada um dos meus passos. Agora, quanto a mim, quando trabalharei eu para minha casa?"31 "Que te hei de dar?", disse Labão. Jacó respondeu: "Não me darás nada. Se aceitas o que te vou propor, continuarei a apascentar e guardar o teu rebanho.32 Vou hoje passar pelo meio de todos os teus rebanhos e pôr à parte, entre os cordeiros, todo o animal manchado, malhado ou negro, e entre as cabras, tudo o que é manchado ou malhado: isto será o meu salário.33 Minha justiça testemunhará em meu favor para o futuro, quando vieres verificar o meu salário: tudo o que não for malhado ou manchado entre as cabras e negro entre os cordeiros, considerar-se-á como roubado."34 "Está bem, disse Labão, seja como dizes."35 Naquele mesmo dia, pôs ele à parte os bodes malhados e manchados, todas as cabras malhadas ou manchadas, todas aquelas que estavam marcadas de branco, e todos os cordeiros negros; confiou-os aos seus filhos,36 e pôs à distância de três dias de jornada entre ele e Jacó, o qual apascentava o resto do rebanho de Labão.37 Jacó tomou então varas verdes de álamo, de amendoeira e de plátano; tirou-lhes parte da casca, fazendo faixas brancas e deixando a nu o samo.38 Colocou as varas assim preparadas sob os olhos das ovelhas, nas pias e nos bebedouros onde vinham beber. Indo a beber, entravam em calor.39 E como entrassem no calor do coito diante dessas varas, concebiam cordeiros riscados, manchados e malhados.40 Jacó punha-os à parte, e voltava a face dos animais para o que era malhado e negro no rebanho de Labão. Constituiu assim rebanhos para si, que não se misturaram aos de Labão.41 Além disso, Jacó só punha suas varas nos bebedouros sob os olhos das ovelhas em calor, a fim de que seu coito se fizesse perto das varas, quando se tratava de ovelhas vigorosas.42 Quando eram fracas, não punha as varas, de sorte que os cordeiros raquíticos eram para Labão e os vigorosos para ele.43 Este homem tornou-se assim extremamente rico, e teve muitos rebanhos, escravas e escravos, camelos e jumentos.

1 And when Rachel saw that she gave Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, Give me sons, or else I [will] die.2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, [Am] I in God's stead, who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife; and Jacob went in unto her.5 And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son unto Jacob.6 And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son. Therefore she called his name Dan.7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again and gave birth to a second son unto Jacob.8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali.9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah, her maid and gave her Jacob to wife.10 And Zilpah, Leah's maid, gave birth to a son unto Jacob.11 And Leah said, [Good] venture has come; and she called his name Gad.12 And Zilpah, Leah's maid, gave birth to a second son unto Jacob.13 And Leah said, Blessed am I, for the daughters will call me blessed; and she called his name Asher.14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.15 And she said unto her, [Is it] a small matter that thou hast taken my husband and would thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son unto Jacob.18 And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.19 And Leah conceived again and gave birth to the sixth son unto Jacob.20 And Leah said, God has endued me [with] a good dowry; now my husband will dwell with me because I have born him six sons; and she called his name Zebulun.21 And afterwards she gave birth to a daughter and called her name Dinah.22 And God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her and opened her womb.23 And she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, God has taken away my reproach;24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, Let the LORD add unto me another son.25 And it came to pass when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, and I shall go unto my place and to my land.26 Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go, for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.27 And Laban said unto him, Let me now find grace in thine eyes, I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for thy sake.28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give [it].29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee and how many livestock thou hast with me.30 For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came], and it is [now] increased unto a multitude, and the LORD has blessed thee since my coming; and now when shall I provide for my own house also?31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock.32 I will pass through all thy flock today, setting apart all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown rams among the rams, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and [of such] shall be my hire.33 So shall my righteousness answer for me tomorrow, when my hire shall come before thy face; each one that [is] not speckled and spotted among [my] goats and brown among [my] sheep shall be counted stolen with me.34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted [and] every one that had [some] white in it, and all the brown among the sheep and gave [them] into the hand of his sons.36 And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.37 And Jacob took rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut tree and peeled white strakes in them and made the white appear which [was] in the rods.38 And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink that they should conceive when they came to drink.39 And the flocks conceived before the rods and brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted sheep.40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and put with his flock the ringstraked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them together with Laban's sheep.41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger sheep conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the gutters that they might conceive among the rods.42 But when the sheep were feeble, he did not put [them] in; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had many sheep, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.: