Genesis 31:1–16

Jacob Flees From Laban

31Jacob heard that Laban’s sons^s were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”^{t 2}And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.^u

³Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back^v to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”^w

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵He said to them, “I see that your father’s^x attitude toward me is not what it was before,^y but the God of my father has been with me.^{z 6}You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,^{a 7}yet your father has cheated^b me by changing my wages^c ten times.^d However, God has not allowed him to harm me.^{e 8}If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’^f then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹So God has taken away your father’s livestock^g and has given them to me.^h

¹⁰“In breeding season I once had a dreamⁱ in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹The angel of God^j said to me in the dream,^k ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’^{l 12}And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted,^m for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.^{n 13}I am the God of Bethel,^o where you anointed a pillar^p and where you made a vow^q to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.^r’ ”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share^s in the inheritance of our father’s estate? ¹⁵Does he not regard us as foreigners?^t Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.^{u 16}Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.^v So do whatever God has told you.”