GenesisChapter 31

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹Now Jacob heard what Laban's sons were saying. "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's," they said. "He got all this wealth by taking it from our father." ²And Jacob could see from Laban's face that he did not feel the same way toward him as before. ³Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you." ⁴So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah. He called them to the field where his flocks were. ⁵He told them, "I can see from your father's face that he does not feel the same way toward me as before. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I have worked for your father with all my strength. ⁷But he has cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. Still, God has not let him harm me. ⁸If he said, 'The speckled ones will be your pay,' then all the flock had speckled young. If he said, 'The striped ones will be your pay,' then all the flock had striped young. ⁹So God has taken away your father's animals and given them to me. ¹⁰At the time when the flocks were breeding, I had a dream. I saw that the male goats mating with the females were striped, spotted, and speckled. ¹¹In that dream the angel of God said to me, 'Jacob!' And I said, 'Here I am.' ¹²He said, 'Look up and see. All the males mating with the flock are striped, spotted, or speckled. I am doing this because I have seen all that Laban has done to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel. That is where you poured oil on the stone pillar. That is where you made a serious promise to me. Now get up and leave this land right away. Go back to the land where you were born.'" ¹⁴Rachel and Leah answered him. "Is there any share or inheritance left for us in our father's house? ¹⁵Doesn't he think of us as strangers? He sold us. And he has used up all the money that was paid for us. ¹⁶All the wealth God has taken from our father really belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you." ¹⁷Then Jacob got up. He put his children and his wives on camels. ¹⁸He drove all his animals ahead of him. He took all the things he had gotten in Paddan-aram. He set out to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone out to cut the wool from his sheep. While he was gone, Rachel stole her father's household idols. ²⁰Jacob also tricked Laban the Aramean. He did not tell him that he was running away. ²¹So Jacob ran away with all he had. He crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead. ²²On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had run away. ²³So Laban took his relatives with him. He chased Jacob for seven days. He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream. He warned him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, good or bad." ²⁵Jacob had set up his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban caught up with him. And Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You tricked me! You carried off my daughters like prisoners of war! ²⁷Why did you run away in secret and trick me? Why didn't you even tell me? I would have sent you off with joy and songs, with tambourines and harps. ²⁸You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹I have the power to hurt you badly. But last night the God of your father spoke to me. He said, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, good or bad.' ³⁰Now you have left because you missed your father's home so much. But why did you steal my gods?" ³¹"I was afraid," Jacob answered, "because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³²If you find your gods with anyone here, that person will not live! Our relatives are watching. Look for yourself to see if anything here is yours. If it is, take it back." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols. ³³So Laban went into Jacob's tent. Then he went into Leah's tent and the tents of the two female servants. But he found nothing. Then he left Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken Laban's household idols. She had put them in her camel's saddlebag and was sitting on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing. ³⁵Rachel said to her father, "Sir, please don't be angry that I can't stand up for you. I am having my period." So Laban searched, but he could not find the household idols. ³⁶Then Jacob became very angry. He argued with Laban. "What have I done wrong?" he said. "What is my sin? Why have you chased me so hard? ³⁷You have searched through all my things! Have you found anything that is yours? Put it here in front of my relatives and yours. Let them decide which of us is right. ³⁸I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not lost their young. I have not eaten the rams of your flock. ³⁹When wild animals tore one apart, I did not bring it to you. I paid for the loss myself. And you made me pay for anything stolen, by day or by night. ⁴⁰This is how it was for me. The heat wore me out in the day. The cold wore me out at night. I could not sleep. ⁴¹I have worked in your house for twenty years. I worked fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks. And you changed my pay ten times! ⁴²The God of my father is the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac. If he had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away with nothing by now. But God has seen my suffering and the hard work of my hands. Last night he gave his judgment."a ⁴³Laban answered Jacob, "These daughters are my daughters. These sons are my sons. These flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today about these daughters of mine? What can I do about the children they have had? ⁴⁴Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between you and me." ⁴⁵So Jacob chose a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and made a pile. Then they ate there beside the pile. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha. Jacob called it Galeed.b ⁴⁸Then Laban said, "This pile is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹It was also called Mizpah. That is because Laban said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are apart from each other.c ⁵⁰If you treat my daughters badly, or if you marry other wives, remember this. Even though no one else is here with us, God is a witness between you and me." ⁵¹Laban also said to Jacob, "Here is the pile of stones. And here is the pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵²This pile is a witness, and this pillar is a witness. I will not go past this pile to harm you. And you will not go past this pile and pillar to harm me. ⁵³May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge between us. He is the God of their father." So Jacob made a promise in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain. He invited his relatives to eat a meal. After they ate, they spent the night on the mountain. ⁵⁵Early the next morning, Laban got up. He kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left and went back home.