Genesis 31–32

Jacob Flees from Laban

31Now he^a heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, “Jacob has taken all that our father has,” and “From that which was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ²Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, it was not like it had been in the past.^{b 3}And Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors^c and to your family, and I will be with you.” ⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks, ⁵and he said to them, “Look, I see the face of your father, that it is not like it has been toward me in the past.^d But the God of my father is with me. ⁶Now you yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength, ⁷and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸If thus he said, ‘Speckled shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore speckled. And if he said, ‘Streaked shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore streaked. ⁹God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰Now it happened that at the time of the mating of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams mounting the flock were streaked, speckled, and dappled. ¹¹Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see—all the rams mounting the flock are streaked, speckled, and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a stone pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.’ ” ¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there yet a portion for us, and an inheritance in the house of our father? ¹⁵Are we not regarded as foreigners by him, because he has sold us and completely consumed our money? ¹⁶For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do.” ¹⁷Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on the camels. ¹⁸And he drove all his livestock and his possessions that he had acquired, the livestock of his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols^e that belonged to her father. ²⁰And Jacob tricked^f Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he intended to flee. ²¹Then he fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates^g and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. ²²And on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled. ²³Then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him, a seven-day journey, and he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Take care^h that you not speak with Jacob, whether good or evil.” ²⁵And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done that you tricked meⁱ and have carried off my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷Why did you hide your intention to flee and trick me,^j and did not tell me so that I would have sent you away with joy and song and tambourine and lyre? ²⁸And why did you not give me opportunity to kiss my grandsons^k and my daughters goodbye? Now you have behaved foolishly by doing this. ²⁹It is in my power^l to do harm to you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, ‘Take care^m from speaking with Jacob, whether good or evil.’ ³⁰Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, but why did you steal my gods?” ³¹Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought, ‘Lest you take your daughters from me by force.’ ³²But with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen now identify what is with me that is yours and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. ³³Then Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tent of the two female servants and did not find his gods. And he came out of Leah’s tent and went into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Laban searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, for I am not able to rise before you, for the way of women is with me. And he searched carefully and did not find the idols. ³⁶Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you pursued after me? ³⁷For you have searched all my possessions, and what did you find of all the possessions of your household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us! ³⁸These twenty years I was with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat. ³⁹I brought no mangled carcass to you—I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹These 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. ⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” ⁴³Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters and the grandsonsⁿ are my grandsons,^o and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see, it is mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴So now, come, let us make^p a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you.” ⁴⁵And Jacob took a stone and set it up as a stone pillar. ⁴⁶And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones. ⁴⁷And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,^q but Jacob called it Galeed.^{r 48}Then Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness between me and you today.” Therefore its name is called Galeed,^{s 49}and Mizpah,^t because he said, “Yahweh watch between me and you when we are out of sight of each other.^{u 50}If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, when there is no man with us, see—God is a witness between me and you.” ⁵¹And Laban said to Jacob, “See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you. ⁵²This pile of stones is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm. ⁵³May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father^v judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal.^w And they ate the meal^x and spent the night on the hill. ^55y And Laban arose early in the morning and kissed his grandsons^z and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his homeland.

Jacob Fears Esau

32And Jacob went on his way, and angels of God met him. ²And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is the camp of God!” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. ⁴And he instructed them, saying, “Thus you must say to my lord, to Esau, ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, I have dwelled as an alien with Laban, and I have remained there until now. ⁵And I have acquired cattle, male donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves, and I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes.’ ” ⁶And the messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We came to your brother, to Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷Then Jacob was very frightened and distressed. So he divided the people, flocks, cattle, and camels that were with him into two companies. ⁸And he thought, “If Esau comes to one company and destroys it, the remaining company will be able to escape.” ⁹Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your family, and I will deal well with you.’ ¹⁰I am not worthy^a of all the loyal love and all the faithfulness that you have shown^b your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹Please rescue me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and attack me, mother and children alike. ¹²Now you yourself said, ‘I will surely deal well with you and make your offspring as the sand of the sea that cannot be counted for abundance.’ ”

¹³And he lodged there that night. Then he took from what he had with him^c a gift for Esau his brother: ¹⁴two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶And he put them under the hand of his servants, herd by herd,^d and said to his servants, “Cross on ahead before me, and put some distance between herds.^{e 17}And he instructed the foremost, saying, “When Esau my brother comes upon you and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you and where are you going? To whom do these animals belong ahead of you?’ ¹⁸Then you must say, ‘To your servant, to Jacob. It is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. Now behold, he is also coming after us.’ ” ¹⁹And he also…