1. When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children or I’ll die!”
2. Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
3. She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her.”
4. So Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with her.
5. Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
6. Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son.” That is why she named him Dan.
7. Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.
8. Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
10. Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son.
11. Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.
12. Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.
13. Leah said, “How happy I am, for women will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.
14. At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”