| 1 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken
away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he
gotten all this glory. 2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and,
behold, it was not toward him as beforetime. 3 And Jehovah said unto
Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be
with thee. 4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto
his flock, 5 and said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it
is not toward me as beforetime; but the God of my father hath been with me.
6 And ye know that will all my power I have served your father. 7 And
your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God
suffered him not to hurt me. 8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy
wages; then all the flock bare speckled: and if he said thus, The
ringstreaked shall be thy wages; then bare all the flock ringstreaked.
9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to
me. 10 And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceive, that I
lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats which
leaped upon the flock were ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled. 11 And
the angel of God said unto me in the dream, Jacob: and I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the he-goats which
leap upon the flock are ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled: for I have seen
all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou
anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee
out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity. 14 And
Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or
inheritance for us in our father's house? 15 Are we not accounted by him
as foreigners? for he hath sold us, and hath also quite devoured our money.
16 For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is
ours and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon the camels;
18 and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had
gathered, the cattle of his getting, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to
go to Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan. 19 Now Laban was gone to
shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's.
20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him
not that he fled. 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and
passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.
22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. 23 And
he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and
he overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. 24 And God came to Laban the
Syrian in a dream of the night, and said unto him, Take heed to thyself that
thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 25 And Laban came up with
Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and Laban with his
brethren encamped in the mountain of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob,
What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried
away my daughters as captives of the sword? 27 Wherefore didst thou flee
secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have
sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp;
28 and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou
done foolishly. 29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the
God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself
that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 30 And now,
though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after
thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? 31 And
Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Lest thou
shouldest take thy daughters from me by force. 32 With whomsoever thou
findest thy gods, he shall not live: before our brethren discern thou what is
thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen
them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the
tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of
Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the
teraphim, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban
felt about all the tent, but found them not. 35 And she said to her
father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the
manner of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the teraphim.
36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said
to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast hotly pursued
after me? 37 Whereas thou hast felt about all my stuff, what hast thou
found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my brethren and thy
brethren, that they may judge betwixt us two. 38 These twenty years have I
been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the
rams of thy flocks have I not eaten. 39 That which was torn of beasts I
brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require
it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 Thus I was; in the day
the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine
eyes. 41 These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee
fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou
hast changed my wages ten times. 42 Except the God of my father, the God
of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou
sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands,
and rebuked thee yesternight.
43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters,
and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that
thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or
unto their children whom they have borne? 44 And now come, let us make a
covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. 46 And Jacob
said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap:
and they did eat there by the heap. 47 And Laban called it
Jegar-saha-dutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 And Laban said, This heap
is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called
Galeed: 49 and Mizpah, for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee,
when we are absent one from another. 50 If thou shalt afflict my
daughters, and if thou shalt take wives besides my daughters, no man is with
us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. 51 And Laban said to Jacob,
Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I have set betwixt me and
thee. 52 This heap be witness, and the pillar be witness, that I will not
pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and
this pillar unto me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham, and the God of
Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the Fear
of his father Isaac. 54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and
called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all
night in the mountain. 55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and
kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed and
returned unto his place.
Genesis - Public
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