1. Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of
the people of the east.
2. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo,
there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of
that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was
upon the well's mouth.
3. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled
the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and
put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place.
4. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And
they said, Of Haran are we.
5. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And
they said, We know him.
6. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is
well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the
sheep.
7. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that
the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep,
and go and feed them.
8. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered
together, and till they roll the stone from the well's
mouth; then we water the sheep.
9. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her
father's sheep; for she kept them.
10. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of
Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his
mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone
from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his
mother's brother.
11. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
12. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and
that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father.
13. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob
his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him,
and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told
Laban all these things.
14. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.
And he abode with him the space of a month.
15. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother,
shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what
shall thy wages be?
16. And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah,
and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well
favoured.
18. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven
years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
19. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than
that I should give her to another man: abide with me.
20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed
unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
21. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are
fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
22. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and
made a feast.
23. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his
daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.
24. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an
handmaid.
25. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was
Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto
me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then
hast thou beguiled me?
26. And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to
give the younger before the firstborn.
27. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the
service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other
years.
28. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him
Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to
be her maid.
30. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel
more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
31. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her
womb: but Rachel was barren.
32. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name
Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my
affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
33. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because
the LORD hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me
this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
34. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this
time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born
him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
35. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now
will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah;
and left bearing.
Chapter 30
1. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel
envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or
else I die.
2. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said,
Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit
of the womb?
3. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she
shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by
her.
4. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went
in unto her.
5. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my
voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his
name Dan.
7. And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a
second son.
8. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with
my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name
Naphtali.
9. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her
maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
12. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me
blessed: and she called his name Asher.
14. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found
mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother
Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy
son's mandrakes.
15. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast
taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's
mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with
thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
16. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah
went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me;
for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he
lay with her that night.
17. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare
Jacob the fifth son.
18. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have
given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name
Issachar.
19. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now
will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six
sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
21. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name
Dinah.
22. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and
opened her womb.
23. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken
away my reproach:
24. And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add
to me another son.
25. And 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.
26. Give 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.
27. And 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.
28. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee,
and how thy cattle was with me.
30. For 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?
31. And 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.
32. I 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.
33. So 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.
34. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy
word.
35. And 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.
36. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob:
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37. And 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.
38. And 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.
39. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth
cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the
flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the
flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and
put them not unto Laban's cattle.
41. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did
conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the
cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the
rods.
42. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the
feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and
maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
Chapter 31
1. And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath
taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was
our father's hath he gotten all this glory.
2. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it
was not toward him as before.
3. And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy
fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4. And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto
his flock,
5. And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it
is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath
been with me.
6. And ye know that with all my power I have served your
father.
7. And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten
times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8. If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all
the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The
ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle
ringstraked.
9. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and
given them to me.
10. And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived,
that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold,
the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked,
speckled, and grisled.
11. And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying,
Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams
which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and
grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar,
and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee
out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
14. And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet
any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15. Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us,
and hath quite devoured also our money.
16. For all the riches which God hath taken from our father,
that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God
hath said unto thee, do.
17. Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon
camels;
18. And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which
he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had
gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the
land of Canaan.
19. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the
images that were her father's.
20. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that
he told him not that he fled.
21. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed
over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.
22. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him
seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount
Gilead.
24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and
said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either
good or bad.
25. Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in
the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount
of Gilead.
26. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast
stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters,
as captives taken with the sword?
27. Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from
me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away
with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
28. And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters?
thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
29. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of
your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou
heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
30. And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou
sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast
thou stolen my gods?
31. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid:
for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy
daughters from me.
32. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live:
before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and
take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen
them.
33. And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and
into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not.
Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's
tent.
34. Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's
furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the
tent, but found them not.
35. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord
that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women
is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.
36. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob
answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my
sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37. Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou
found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my
brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us
both.
38. This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy
she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy
flock have I not eaten.
39. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I
bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it,
whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
40. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the
frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41. Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee
fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy
cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the
fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me
away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour
of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
43. And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are
my daughters, and these children are my children, and these
cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and
what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto
their children which they have born?
44. Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou;
and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
46. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they
took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon
the heap.
47. And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it
Galeed.
48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee
this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
49. And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee,
when we are absent one from another.
50. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take
other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God
is witness betwixt me and thee.
51. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this
pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:
52. This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I
will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt
not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.
53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their
father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his
father Isaac.
54. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his
brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried
all night in the mount.
55. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons
and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and
returned unto his place.
