Leah

Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel.

Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

But when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.

And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.

When morning came, there was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob said to Laban. “Wasn’t it for Rachel that I served you? Why have you deceived me?”

Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,

Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

Now 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.”

When 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.

And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.

Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

“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.

So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were,

And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.

He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.

Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.

The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

These are the sons of Leah born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of sons and daughters was thirty-three.

These are the sons of Jacob born to Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—sixteen in all.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.