Gen 29:32-35, 30:5-24, 35:18, 22-26, 46:8-27, 49:4-28, Exo 1:2-4 | ESV | STEP | And Leah conceived and bore a son , and she called his name Reuben , for she said , Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction ; for now my husband will love me.

Genesis 29:32-35

32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, ^{▼▼ Reuben means See, a son} for she said, “Because the Lord ^bhas looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ^{▼▼ Simeon sounds like the Hebrew for heard} 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be ^dattached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ^{▼▼ Levi sounds like the Hebrew for attached} 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^fJudah. ^{▼▼ Judah sounds like the Hebrew for praise} Then she ceased bearing.

Genesis 30:5-24

5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has ^hjudged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ^{▼▼ Dan sounds like the Hebrew for judged} 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings ^{▼▼Hebrew With wrestlings of God} I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name ^kNaphtali. ^{▼▼ Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling}

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and ^mgave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, ⁿ“Good fortune has come!” so she called his name ^oGad. ^{▼▼ Gad sounds like the Hebrew for good fortune} 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women ^qhave called me happy.” So she called his name Asher. ^{▼▼ Asher sounds like the Hebrew for happy}

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^smandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. ^{▼▼ Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages, or hire}

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ^uZebulun. ^{▼▼ Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for honor} 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

22 Then God ^wremembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^xopened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away ^ymy reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, ^{▼▼ Joseph means May he add, and sounds like the Hebrew for taken away} saying, ^aa“May the Lord add to me another son!”

Genesis 35:18

18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; ^{▼▼ Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength} ^acbut his father called him Benjamin. ^{▼▼ Benjamin means son of the right hand}

Genesis 35:22-26

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and ^aelay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: ^afReuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Genesis 46:8-27

8 ^agNow ^ahthese are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. ^aiReuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of ^ajLevi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of ^akJudah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but ^alEr and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of ^amPerez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 ^anThe sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, ^aowhom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 ^apThe sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 ^aqThese are the sons of Zilpah, ^arwhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And ^asto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of ^atOn, bore to him. 21 And ^authe sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

23 The son ^{▼▼Hebrew sons} of Dan: Hushim. 24 ^awThe sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 ^axThese are the sons of Bilhah, ^aywhom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. ^azAll the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Genesis 49:4-28

4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you ^bawent up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 ^bb“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons ^bcof violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
^bdO my glory, ^bebe not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they ^bfhamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will ^bgdivide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, ^bhyour brothers shall praise you;
^biyour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
^bjyour father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is ^bka lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^blHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The ^bmscepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff ^bnfrom between his feet,
until tribute comes to him; ^{▼▼By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh}
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His ^bpeyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 ^bq“Zebulun shall dwell at the ^brshore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 ^bs“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds. ^{▼▼Or between its saddlebags}
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and ^bubecame a servant at forced labor.
16 ^bv“Dan shall ^bwjudge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan ^bxshall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I ^bywait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 ^bz“Raiders shall raid ^caGad, ^{▼▼ Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid}
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 ^cc“Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 ^cd“Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns. ^{▼▼Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold}
22 “Joseph is ^cfa fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall. ^{▼▼Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall}
23 The archers ^chbitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet ^cihis bow remained unmoved;
his arms ^{▼▼Hebrew the arms of his hands} were made agile
by the hands of the ^ckMighty One of Jacob
(from there is ^clthe Shepherd, ^{▼▼Or by the name of the Shepherd} ^cnthe Stone of Israel),
25 ^coby the God of your father who will help you,
by ^cpthe Almighty ^{▼▼Hebrew Shaddai} ^crwho will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties ^csof the everlasting hills. ^{▼▼A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills}
May they be ^cuon the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 ^cv“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening ^cwdividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

Exodus 1:2-4

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.