31Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying. “Jacob has taken everything our father owned,” they said. “He has gained all of this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

²Jacob noticed that Laban’s feelings toward him had changed.

³Then the Lord spoke to Jacob. He said, “Go back to your father’s land and to your relatives. I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah. He told them to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

⁵He said to them, “I see that your father’s feelings toward me have changed. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I’ve worked for your father with all of my strength.

⁷“But your father has cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. In spite of everything that’s happened, God hasn’t let him harm me. ⁸Sometimes Laban would say, ‘The speckled ones will be your pay.’ Then all the flocks had little ones with speckles. At other times he would say, ‘The striped ones will be your pay.’ Then all the flocks had little ones with stripes. ⁹So God has taken away your father’s livestock and given it to me.

¹⁰“Once during the mating season I had a dream. In my dream I looked up and saw male goats mating with the flock. The goats had stripes, speckles or spots.

¹¹“The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²He said, ‘Look up. See the male goats mating with the flock. All of them have stripes, speckles or spots. That is because I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you.

¹³“ ‘I am the God of Bethel. That is where you poured oil on a pillar. There you made a promise to me. Now leave this land. Go back to your own land.’ ”

¹⁴Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in our father’s property? ¹⁵Doesn’t our father think of us as strangers? First he sold us. Now he has used up what he was paid for us. ¹⁶All of the wealth God took away from our father really belongs to us and our children. So do what God has told you to do.”

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