Surrogates, when the wife can’t get pregnant
1Rachel couldn’t get pregnant. But she could get jealous. She got more and more jealous of her sister. One day her frustrations exploded all over her husband, Jacob. She said “Give me some babies before I die of humiliation!” 2By then Jacob had run out of patience with her. He lost his temper and said, “Who do you think I am? God? He’s the one keeping you from getting pregnant! Not me!” 3Rachel said, “Take my slave, Bilhah. Use her as a surrogate mother. Get her pregnant so I can have children through her.”4So Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob as another wife. Jacob had sex with her. 5Bilhah got pregnant and gave birth to Jacob’s son. 6Rachel said, “God has listened to the case I made. He rendered the judgment that I am a fit parent, since he has given me a son. I will name the boy Dan. [1] 7Rachel’s slave Bilhah got pregnant again. She had another son.
8Rachel said, “I’ve competed with my sister for so long. I fought hard, too. Now, I’ve finally won.” She named the boy Naphtali. [2] 9When Leah realized she couldn’t get pregnant anymore, she gave Jacob her slave Zilpah, as a surrogate mother and wife.
10Leah’s slave Zilpah had a son with Jacob. 11Leah said, “I’m so lucky!” She named the boy Gad. [3] 12Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to a second son with Jacob.
13Leah said, “I’m so happy! Women everywhere will call me happy!” She named the boy Asher. [4]
Mandrake 0, Sex 1
14During the time of wheat harvest, in the spring, Reuben found some mandrake roots in a field. He brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel found out about it and asked Leah to share: “Would you give me some of your son’s mandrakes?” [5] 15Leah said, “Are you crazy? First you take my husband from me, and now you want to take my son’s mandrake plants, too?” Rachel offered her sister a deal: “If you give me some of your son’s mandrakes, you can take my turn sleeping with Jacob tonight.”16When Jacob came home from working in the field that evening, Leah walked out to meet him. She said, “Sleep with me tonight. I bought you with my son’s mandrakes.” Jacob slept with Leah that night and had sex with her. 17God answered Leah’s prayer for another son. She got pregnant. She and Jacob had a fifth son together.
18Leah said, “God was happy about me giving my slave to Jacob, so he gave me a reward.” She named her son Issachar. [6] 19Leah got pregnant again. She and Jacob had a sixth son together. 20Leah said, “God has given me such a wonderful gift. Surely my husband will respect me now, since I have given him six sons.” She named her boy Zebulun. [7] 21Later, Leah gave birth to a daughter she named Dinah. 22God remembered Rachel’s desire, and he made her fertile again. 23She gave birth to a son. She said, “God has cleared my name. I don’t have to live in shame anymore.” 24She named her son Joseph. [8] And she said, “I’m asking the LORD to do it again, and give me another son.”
Jacob gets rich off father-in-law
25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob went to his father-in-law, Laban, and said, “It’s time for me to go home, back to my own country. I’d like to leave on good terms with you. 26Let me take my wives and children. You owe me that much for all the work I’ve done for you.”27Laban said, “I’ve consulted the spirit world and I’ve discovered that I owe my success to you, because the Lord is taking good care of you. 28Stay with me. Name your price. I’ll pay it.”
29Jacob said, “You know how hard I worked for you and what a difference it made with your cattle. 30You didn’t have much livestock when I got here. Now your herds and flocks fill the grazing pastures. God has taken good care of you because of everything I’ve done for you. But now, how can I provide for my own family?”
31Laban said, “Just tell me what you want me to give you.” Jacob said, “I don’t want you to give me anything. Just do me one favor and I will stay and manage your livestock. 32Let me go through your flock today and take every sheep that is either spotted or black along with every spotted goat. That’s all I ask. Everything else is yours. 33That way you’ll be able to tell later that I’m not stealing anything from you. You’ll know that every sheep that is spotted or black along with every spotted goat belongs to me. Everything else belongs to you.”
34“You’ve got a deal,” Laban said. “We’ll do just what you said.” 35Instead, Laban rushed out to the pasture and had his sons cut out of the flock all the spotted and black sheep, along with all the spotted goats. 36Then he had his sons walk those sheep and goats three days away from the main flock. Jacob stayed and took care of that main flock.
37Jacob decided to try a technique he had heard about—a way to get Laban’s livestock to give birth to striped and spotted lambs and goats. He took branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He peeled away part of the bark so the branches look striped. 38Then Jacob stuck the branches beside the watering trough, which is where the animals often mated. 39Just as Jacob had hoped, animals that mated in front of the striped branches gave birth to lambs and goats that were striped, speckled, or spotted—the kind of animals Laban had agreed to give to Jacob. 40When Laban’s animals mated, Jacob had them face his animals that were striped, spotted, or black. And then when Laban’s livestock gave birth to animals that were striped, spotted, or black, Jacob took them. That’s how he managed to make his flock bigger at the expense of his father-in-law.
41Jacob used the same technique to build an even stronger flock. He made sure the heartiest female animals mated in front of the peeled branches staked beside the watering trough. 42He didn’t do this for Laban’s weaker sheep and goats. So the solid-color sheep and goats that belonged to Laban were weaker than Jacob’s striped, spotted, or black livestock. 43This is how Jacob got rich. His assets included huge flocks, lots of male and female slaves, along with herds of camels and donkeys.
