Genesis 31

Jacob Flees from Laban

31Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this ^awealth.” ²And Jacob saw the ^bcountenance of Laban, and indeed it was not ^cfavorable toward him as before. ³Then the Lord said to Jacob, ^d“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will ^ebe with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, ⁵and said to them, ^f“I see your father’s ¹countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father ^ghas been with me. ⁶And ^hyou know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷Yet your father has deceived me and ⁱchanged my wages ^jten times, but God ^kdid not allow him to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus: ^l‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. ⁹So God has ^mtaken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. ¹¹Then ⁿthe Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^oI have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, ^pwhere you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^qarise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ^r“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not considered strangers by him? For ^she has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. ¹⁶For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

¹⁷Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of ^tCanaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the ^uhousehold ²idols that were her father’s. ²⁰And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and ^vheaded ³toward the mountains of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ²³Then he took ^whis brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴But God ^xhad come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you ^yspeak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”

²⁵So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.

²⁶And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and ^zcarried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? ²⁸And you did not allow me ^ato kiss my sons and my daughters. Now ^byou have done foolishly in so doing. ²⁹It is in my power to do you harm, but the ^cGod of your father spoke to me ^dlast night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ ³⁰And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you ^esteal my gods?”

³¹Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was ^fafraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ ³²With whomever you find your gods, ^gdo not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the ⁴household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban ⁵searched all about the tent but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot ^hrise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the ⁶household idols.

³⁶Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my ⁷trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? ³⁷Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. ³⁹ⁱThat which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. ^jYou required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. ⁴¹Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I ^kserved you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and ^lyou have changed my wages ten times. ^42mUnless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and ⁿthe Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^oGod has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and ^prebuked you last night.”

Laban’s Covenant with Jacob

⁴³And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Now therefore, come, ^qlet us make a ⁸covenant, ^ryou and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵So Jacob ^stook a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it ⁹Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it ¹Galeed. ⁴⁸And Laban said, ^t“This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, ⁴⁹also ^uMizpah, ²because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. ⁵⁰If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”

⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. ⁵²This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father ^vjudge between us.” And Jacob ^wswore by ^xthe ³Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. ⁵⁵And early in the morning Laban arose, and ^ykissed his sons and daughters and ^zblessed them. Then Laban departed and ^areturned to his place.