But Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him. “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.” ²And Jacob began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.

³Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the field where he was watching his flock. ⁵He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know how hard I have worked for your father, ⁷but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm. ⁸For if he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young. ⁹In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.

¹⁰“One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted. ¹¹Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’

¹²“The angel said, ‘Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. For I have seen how Laban has treated you. ¹³I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth.’ ”

¹⁴Rachel and Leah responded, “That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway. ¹⁵He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he wasted the money you paid him for us. ¹⁶All the wealth God has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever God has told you.”

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