[1] Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken
all that was our father's; and from what was our father's he has gained all
this wealth." [2] And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as
before. [3] Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your
fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you." [4] So Jacob sent and
called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, [5] and said to
them, "I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did
before. But the God of my father has been with me. [6] You know that I have
served your father with all my strength; [7] yet your father has cheated me
and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. [8]
If he said, `The spotted shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore
spotted; and if he said, `The striped shall be your wages,' then all the
flock bore striped. [9] Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father,
and given them to me. [10] In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my
eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were
striped, spotted, and mottled. [11] Then the angel of God said to me in the
dream, `Jacob,' and I said, `Here I am!' [12] And he said, `Lift up your
eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted,
and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. [13] I am the
God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise,
go forth from this land, and return to the land of your birth.'" [14] Then
Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to
us in our father's house? [15] Are we not regarded by him as foreigners?
For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. [16]
All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and
to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do." [17] So Jacob
arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; [18] and he drove away all
his cattle, all his livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his
possession which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of
Canaan to his father Isaac. [19] Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and
Rachel stole her father's household gods. [20] And Jacob outwitted Laban
the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. [21] He
fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphra'tes, and set
his face toward the hill country of Gilead. [22] When it was told Laban on
the third day that Jacob had fled, [23] he took his kinsmen with him and
pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill
country of Gilead. [24] But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by
night, and said to him, "Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either
good or bad." [25] And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent
in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill
country of Gilead. [26] And Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that
you have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the
sword? [27] Why did you flee secretly, and cheat me, and did not tell me,
so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine
and lyre? [28] And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my
daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. [29] It is in my power to
do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying,
`Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.' [30] And now you
have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why
did you steal my gods?" [31] Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid,
for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. [32] Any
one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our
kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it." Now Jacob did
not know that Rachel had stolen them. [33] So Laban went into Jacob's tent,
and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did
not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent, and entered Rachel's. [34]
Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle,
and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.
[35] And she said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot
rise before you, for the way of women is upon me." So he searched, but did
not find the household gods. [36] Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided
Laban; Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you
have hotly pursued me? [37] Although you have felt through all my goods,
what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my
kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. [38] These
twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not
miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. [39] That which
was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it
myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by
night. [40] Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night,
and my sleep fled from my eyes. [41] These twenty years I have been in your
house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years
for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. [42] If the God of
my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my
side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my
affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night." [43]
Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the
children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is
mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their
children whom they have borne? [44] Come now, let us make a covenant, you
and I; and let it be a witness between you and me." [45] So Jacob took a
stone, and set it up as a pillar. [46] And Jacob said to his kinsmen,
"Gather stones," and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there
by the heap. [47] Laban called it Je'gar-sahadu'tha: but Jacob called it
Galeed. [48] Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today."
Therefore he named it Galeed, [49] and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, "The
LORD watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. [50]
If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters,
although no man is with us, remember, God is witness between you and me."
[51] Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and the pillar, which I have
set between you and me. [52] This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a
witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass
over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. [53] The God of Abraham and
the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob
swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, [54] and Jacob offered a sacrifice
on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread; and they ate bread and
tarried all night on the mountain. [55] Early in the morning Laban arose,
and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he
departed and returned home.
