Genesis 31
1
And he heareth the words of Laban's sons, saying,
`Jacob hath taken all that our father hath; yea, from that which our father
hath, he hath made all this honour;' 2 and Jacob seeth the face of Laban, and lo, it is not with him as
heretofore. 3 And Jehovah saith unto Jacob, `Turn
back unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I am with thee.' 4
And Jacob sendeth and calleth
for Rachel and for Leah to the field unto his flock; 5 and saith
to them, `I am beholding your father's face--that it is not towards me as
heretofore, and the God of my father hath been with me, 6 and ye--ye have known that with all my power I have served your
father, 7 and your father hath played upon me, and hath changed my hire ten
times; and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me. 8 `If he say thus: The
speckled are thy hire, then bare all the flock speckled ones; and if he say
thus: The ring-streaked are thy hire, then bare all the flock ring-streaked; 9
and God taketh away the substance of your father, and doth give to me. 10 `And
it cometh to pass at the time of the flock conceiving, that I lift up mine eyes
and see in a dream, and lo, the he-goats, which are going up on the flock,
[are] ring-streaked, speckled, and grisled; 11 and
the messenger of God saith unto me in the dream,
Jacob, and I say, Here [am] I. 12 `And He saith, Lift
up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see--all the he-goats which are going up on
the flock [are] ring-streaked, speckled, and grisled,
for I have seen all that Laban is doing to thee; 13 I [am] the God of Bethel
where thou hast anointed a standing pillar, where thou hast vowed a vow to me;
now, arise, go out from this land, and turn back unto the land of thy birth.'
14 And Rachel answereth--Leah also--and saith to him, `Have we yet a portion and inheritance in the
house of our father? 15 have we not been reckoned strangers to him? for he hath
sold us, and he also utterly consumeth our money; 16
for all the wealth which God hath taken away from our father, it [is] ours, and
our children's; and now, all that God hath said unto thee--do.' 17 And Jacob riseth, and lifteth up his sons
and his wives on the camels, 18 and leadeth all his
cattle, and all his substance which he hath acquired, the cattle of his
getting, which he hath acquired in Padan-Aram, to go
unto Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. 19 And Laban hath gone to shear
his flock, and Rachel stealeth the *teraphim which her father hath; 20 and Jacob deceiveth the heart of Laban the Aramaean, because he hath
not declared to him that he is fleeing; 21 and he fleeth,
he and all that he hath, and riseth, and passeth over the *River, and setteth his face [toward] the mount of Gilead. 22 And it is
told to Laban on the third day that Jacob hath fled, 23 and he taketh his
brethren with him, and pursueth after him a journey
of seven days, and overtaketh him in the mount of
Gilead. 24 And God cometh in unto Laban the Aramaean in a dream of the night,
and saith to him, `Take heed to thyself lest thou
speak with Jacob from good unto evil.' 25 And Laban overtaketh
Jacob; and Jacob hath fixed his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren
have fixed [theirs] in the mount of Gilead. 26 And Laban saith
to Jacob, `What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away
my daughters as captives of the sword? 27 Why hast thou hidden thyself to flee,
and deceivest me, and hast not declared to me, and I
send thee away with joy and with songs, with tabret
and with harp, 28 and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my
daughters?--now thou hast acted foolishly in doing [so]; 29 my hand is to God
to do evil with you, but the God of your father yesternight
hath spoken unto me, saying, Take heed to thyself from speaking with Jacob from
good unto evil. 30 `And now, thou hast certainly gone, because thou hast been
very desirous for the house of thy father; why hast thou stolen my gods?' 31
And Jacob answereth and saith
to Laban, `Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest thou take violently away thy
daughters from me; 32 with whomsoever thou findest
thy gods--he doth not live; before our brethren discern for thyself what [is]
with me, and take to thyself:' and Jacob hath not known that Rachel hath stolen
them. 33 And Laban goeth into the tent of Jacob, and
into the tent of Leah, and into the tent of the two handmaidens, and hath not
found; and he goeth out from the tent of Leah, and goeth into the tent of Rachel. 34 And Rachel hath taken the
teraphim, and putteth them
in the furniture of the camel, and sitteth upon them;
and Laban feeleth all the tent, and hath not found;
35 and she saith unto her father, `Let it not be
displeasing in the eyes of my lord that I am not able to rise at thy presence,
for the way of women [is] on me;' and he searcheth,
and hath not found the teraphim. 36 And it is
displeasing to Jacob, and he striveth with Laban; and
Jacob answereth and saith
to Laban, `What [is] my transgression? what my sin, that thou hast burned after
me? 37 for thou hast felt all my vessels: what hast thou found of all the
vessels of thy house? set here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and they
decide between us both. 38 `These twenty years I [am] with thee: thy ewes and
thy she-goats have not miscarried, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten;
39 the torn I have not brought in unto thee--I, I repay it--from my hand thou
dost seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night;
40 I have been [thus]: in the day consumed me hath drought, and frost by night,
and wander doth my sleep from mine eyes. 41 `This [is] to me twenty years in
thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six
years for thy flock; and thou changest my hire ten
times; 42 unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the *Fear of Isaac,
had been for me, surely now empty thou hadst sent me
away; mine affliction and the labour of my hands hath
God seen, and reproveth yesternight.'
43 And Laban answereth and saith
unto Jacob, `The daughters [are] my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the
flock my flock, and all that thou art seeing [is] mine; and to my
daughters--what do I to these to-day, or to their sons whom they have born? 44
and now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and it hath been for a witness
between me and thee.' 45 And Jacob taketh a stone, and lifteth
it up [for] a standing pillar; 46 and Jacob saith to
his brethren, `Gather stones,' and they take stones, and make a heap; and they
eat there on the heap; 47 and Laban calleth it *Jegar-Sahadutha; and Jacob hath called it *Galeed. 48 And Laban saith, `This
heap [is] witness between me and thee to-day;' therefore hath he called its
name Galeed; 49 *Mizpah also, for he said, `Jehovah doth watch between me
and thee, for we are hidden one from another; 50 if thou afflict my daughters,
or take wives beside my daughters--there is no man with us--see, God [is]
witness between me and thee.' 51 And Laban saith to
Jacob, `Lo, this heap, and lo, the standing pillar which I have cast between me
and thee; 52 this heap [is] witness, and the standing pillar [is] witness, that
I do not pass over this heap unto thee, and that thou dost not pass over this
heap and this standing pillar unto me--for evil; 53 the God of Abraham and the
God of Nahor, doth judge between us--the God of their
father,' and Jacob sweareth by the Fear of his father
Isaac. 54 And Jacob sacrificeth a sacrifice in the
mount, and calleth to his brethren to eat bread, and
they eat bread, and lodge in the mount; 55 and Laban riseth
early in the morning, and kisseth his sons and his
daughters, and blesseth them; and Laban goeth on, and turneth back to his
place.