1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
3Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”
4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
5and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son.
6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
7And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
10And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.
12When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,
13Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
14Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
19Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
20“God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.
21After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
23and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.
24She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”