Genesis 31
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.
31:2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward
him as beforetime.
31:3 And Jehovah said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to
thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
31:4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
31:5 and said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward
me as beforetime; but the God of my father hath been with me.
31:6 And ye know that will all my power I have served your father.
31:7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God
suffered him not to hurt me.
31:8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the flock bare
speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstreaked shall be thy wages; then bare
all the flock ringstreaked.
31:9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
31:10 And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceive, that I lifted up
mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats which leaped upon the
flock were ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled.
31:11 And the angel of God said unto me in the dream, Jacob: and I said, Here am
I.
31:12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the he-goats which leap
upon the flock are ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled: for I have seen all
that Laban doeth unto thee.
31:13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou
vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto
the land of thy nativity.
31:14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion
or inheritance for us in our father's house?
31:15 Are we not accounted by him as foreigners? for he hath sold us, and hath
also quite devoured our money.
31:16 For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours
and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon the camels;
31:18 and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had
gathered, the cattle of his getting, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go
to Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan.
31:19 Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that
were her father's.
31:20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not
that he fled.
31:21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the
River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.
31:22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days'
journey; and he overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.
31:24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said unto
him, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
31:25 And Laban came up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the
mountain: and Laban with his brethren encamped in the mountain of Gilead.
31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away
unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?
31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee 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;
31:28 and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou
done foolishly.
31:29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father
spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to
Jacob either good or bad.
31:30 And now, `though' thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst
after thy father's house, `yet' wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31:31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said,
Lest thou shouldest take thy daughters from me by force.
31:32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall 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.
31:33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent
of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah's tent,
and entered into Rachel's tent.
31:34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel's saddle, and
sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not.
31:35 And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up
before thee; for the manner of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not
the teraphim.
31:36 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 hotly pursued after
me?
31:37 Whereas thou hast felt about 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 two.
31:38 These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have
not cast their young, and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten.
31:39 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.
31:40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night;
and my sleep fled from mine eyes.
31:41 These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years
for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my
wages ten times.
31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac,
had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine
affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
31:43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters,
and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that
thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto
their children whom they have borne?
31:44 And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a
witness between me and thee.
31:45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
31:46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and
made a heap: and they did eat there by the heap.
31:47 And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
31:48 And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day.
Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:
31:49 and Mizpah, for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we are
absent one from another.
31:50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives besides
my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.
31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I
have set betwixt me and thee.
31:52 This heap be witness, and the 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.
31:53 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.
31:54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to
eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain.
31:55 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.
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