Genesis 30:23-39
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 30
23So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, 'God has taken away my disgrace.' 24And she named him Joseph, saying, 'May the Lord give me another son.'
25Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, 'Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country.
26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.'
27But Laban said to him, 'If it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination that the Lord has blessed me on your account.'
28He continued, 'Name me your wages, and I will give them.'
29But Jacob said to him, 'You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.
30For you had little before I came, and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?'
31So he said, 'What shall I give you?' And Jacob said, 'You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:
32let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages.
33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.'
34Laban said, 'Good, let it be according to your word.'
35So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.
36And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was in the rods.
38He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.
39So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring.
King James Version
Chapter 30
23And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. 25And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26Give 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.
27And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
28And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
31And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:
32I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
33So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
34And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
35And 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.
36And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
38And he set the rods which he had pilled 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.
39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 30
23She conceived and bore a son, and she said, "God has taken away my disgrace." 24She named him Joseph and said, "May the Lord add another son to me."
25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland.
26Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you."
27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you."
28Then Laban said, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
29So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.
30For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?"
31Laban asked, "What should I give you?" And Jacob said, "You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock.
32Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages.
33In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen."
35That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them.
36He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.
37Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches.
38He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep—in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink.
39The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.
New Living Translation
Chapter 30
23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. 'God has removed my disgrace,' she said. 24And she named him Joseph, for she said, 'May the Lord add yet another son to my family.'
25Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, 'Please release me so I can go home to my own country.
26Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.'
27Please listen to me,' Laban replied. 'I have become wealthy, for the Lord has blessed me because of you.
28Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.'
29Jacob replied, 'You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.
30You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?'
31What wages do you want?' Laban asked again. Jacob replied, 'Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.
32Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages.
33In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.'
34All right,' Laban replied. 'It will be as you say.'
35But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons,
36who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.
37Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
38Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated.
39And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
English Standard Version
Chapter 30
23She conceived and bore a son and said, "God has taken away my reproach." 24And she called his name Joseph, saying, "May the Lord add to me another son!"
25As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.
26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you."
27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.
28Name your wages, and I will give it."
29Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me.
30For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?"
31He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it:
32let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages.
33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen."
34Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."
35But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons.
36And he set a distance of three days ' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban 's flock.
37Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks.
38He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,
39the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.
New International Version
Chapter 30
23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." 24She named him Joseph, and said, "May the Lord add to me another son."
25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland.
26Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you."
27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you."
28He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
29Jacob said to him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care.
30The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
31"What shall I give you?" he asked. "Don’t give me anything," Jacob replied. "But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them:
32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages.
33And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen."
34"Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."
35That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons.
36Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.
38Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink,
39they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
New King James Version
Chapter 30
23And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
25And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.
26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”
27And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.”
28Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
29So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
30For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”
31So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks:
32Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.
33So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
34And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”
35So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
36Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.
38And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink.
39So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
