Genesis 31

1¶ And he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s, he has gotten all this glory.

2And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

3Also the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

4And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his sheep

5and said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

6And ye know that with all my strength I have served your father.

7And your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

8If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the sheep bore speckled; and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then all the sheep bore ringstraked.

9Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10And it came to pass at the time that the sheep conceived, that I lifted up my eyes and saw in dreams, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the females were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

11And the angel of God spoke unto me in dreams, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

12And he said, Lift up now thine eyes and see, all the rams which leap upon the sheep are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled; for I have seen all that Laban has done unto thee.

13I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the pillar and where thou didst vow a vow unto me. Now arise, go out from this land and return unto the land of thy nature.

14And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

15Are we not counted of him strangers? For he has sold us and has even devoured all our price.

16For all the riches which God has taken from our father, is ours and our son’s; now then, whatever God has said unto thee, do.

17¶ Then Jacob rose up and set his sons and his wives upon the camels;

18and he carried away all his livestock and all his goods which he had gotten, the livestock of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, to return unto Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

19And Laban had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the idols of her father.

20And Jacob stole away the heart of Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he fled.

21So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed the river and set his face toward Mount Gilead.

22And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.

23Then he took his brethren with him and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in Mount Gilead.

24And God came to Laban the Aramean in dreams by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

25¶ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren pitched in Mount Gilead.

26And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away my heart and carried away my daughters as captives taken with the sword?

27Why didst thou flee away secretly and steal away from me and didst not tell me that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs with tambourine and with harp?

28And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

29It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt, but the God of your father spoke unto me last night, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

30And now, that thou art leaving, because thy desire is after thy father’s house, yet why hast thou stolen my gods?

31And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Peradventure thou would take by force thy daughters from me.

32With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let them not live; before our brethren discern what is thine with me and take it to thee. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33And Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and came to Rachel’s tent.

34Now Rachel took the images and put them in a camel’s saddle and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent but did not find them.

35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but did not find the images.

36¶ Then Jacob was wroth and contended with Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

37Whereas thou hast searched 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 between us both.

38These twenty years I have been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not aborted their young, and I have not eaten the rams of thy flock.

39That which was torn of beasts I did not bring unto thee; I bore the sin; thou didst require of my hand that which was stolen, whether by day or by night.

40By day the drought consumed me, and by night, the frost; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

41Thus have I been twenty years 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.

42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, were not with me, surely thou would send me away now empty. God has seen my affliction and the work of my hands and rebuked thee last night.

43¶ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these sons are my sons, and these sheep are my sheep, and all that thou seest is mine; and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their sons unto whom they have given birth?

44Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

45Then Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar.

46And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap; and they ate there upon the heap.

47And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

48And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

49and Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.

50If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee.

51And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have raised up between me and thee;

52 let this heap be witness and this pillar be witness that I will not pass over this heap against thee and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar against me, for harm.

53The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their fathers, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.

54Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount and called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread and slept in the mount.

55And 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.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International

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Genesis 31

Jacob Runs Away

1One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking. They said, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned, and in this way he has become rich.” 2Then Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before. 3The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land where your ancestors lived, and I will be with you.”

4So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks. 5He said to them, “I have seen that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You both know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father, 7but he cheated me and changed my pay ten times. But God has not allowed your father to harm me. 8When Laban said, ‘You can have all the speckled animals as your pay,’ all the animals gave birth to speckled young ones. But when he said, ‘You can have all the streaked animals as your pay,’ all the flocks gave birth to streaked babies. 9So God has taken the animals away from your father and has given them to me.

10“I had a dream during the season when the flocks were mating. I saw that the only male goats who were mating were streaked, speckled, or spotted. 11The angel of God spoke to me in that dream and said, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Yes!’ 12The angel said, ‘Look! Only the streaked, speckled, or spotted male goats are mating. I have seen all the wrong things Laban has been doing to you. 13I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you poured olive oil on the stone you set up on end and where you made a promise to me. Now I want you to leave here and go back to the land where you were born.’ ”

14Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “Our father has nothing to give us when he dies. 15He has treated us like strangers. He sold us to you, and then he spent all of the money you paid for us. 16God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do.”

17So Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18and they began their journey back to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan. All the flocks of animals that Jacob owned walked ahead of them. He carried everything with him that he had gotten while he lived in Northwest Mesopotamia.

19While Laban was gone to cut the wool from his sheep, Rachel stole the idols that belonged to him. 20And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was leaving. 21Jacob and his family left quickly, crossed the Euphrates River, and traveled toward the mountains of Gilead.

22Three days later Laban learned that Jacob had run away, 23so he gathered his relatives and began to chase him. After seven days Laban found him in the mountains of Gilead. 24That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, “Be careful! Do not say anything to Jacob, good or bad.”

The Search for the Stolen Idols

25So Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had made his camp in the mountains, so Laban and his relatives set up their camp in the mountains of Gilead. 26Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You cheated me and took my daughters as if you had captured them in a war. 27Why did you run away secretly and trick me? Why didn’t you tell me? Then I could have sent you away with joy and singing and with the music of tambourines and harps. 28You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-bye. You were very foolish to do this! 29I have the power to harm you, but last night the God of your father spoke to me and warned me not to say anything to you, good or bad. 30I know you want to go back to your home, but why did you steal my idols?”

31Jacob answered Laban, “I left without telling you, because I was afraid you would take your daughters away from me. 32If you find anyone here who has taken your idols, that person will be killed! Your relatives will be my witnesses. You may look for anything that belongs to you and take anything that is yours.” (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols.)

33So Laban looked in Jacob’s tent, in Leah’s tent, and in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find his idols. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. 34Rachel had hidden the idols inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Although Laban looked through the whole tent, he did not find them.

35Rachel said to her father, “Father, don’t be angry with me. I am not able to stand up before you because I am having my monthly period.” So Laban looked through the camp, but he did not find his idols.

36Then Jacob became very angry and said, “What wrong have I done? What law have I broken to cause you to chase me? 37You have looked through everything I own, but you have found nothing that belongs to you. If you have found anything, show it to everyone. Put it in front of your relatives and my relatives, and let them decide which one of us is right. 38I have worked for you now for twenty years. During all that time none of the lambs and kids died during birth, and I have not eaten any of the male sheep from your flocks. 39Any time an animal was killed by wild beasts, I did not bring it to you, but made up for the loss myself. You made me pay for any animal that was stolen during the day or night. 40In the daytime the sun took away my strength, and at night I was cold and could not sleep. 41I worked like a slave for you for twenty years—the first fourteen to get your two daughters and the last six to earn your flocks. During that time you changed my pay ten times. 42But the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, was with me. Otherwise, you would have sent me away with nothing. But he saw the trouble I had and the hard work I did, and last night he corrected you.”

Jacob and Laban’s Agreement

43Laban said to Jacob, “These girls are my daughters. Their children belong to me, and these flocks are mine. Everything you see here belongs to me, but I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children. 44Let us make an agreement, and let us set up a pile of stones to remind us of it.”

45So Jacob took a large rock and set it up on its end. 46He told his relatives to gather rocks, so they took the rocks and piled them up; then they ate beside the pile. 47Laban named that place in his language A Pile to Remind Us, and Jacob gave the place the same name in Hebrew.

48Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will remind us of the agreement between us.” That is why the place was called A Pile to Remind Us. 49It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “Let the Lord watch over us while we are separated from each other. 50Remember that God is our witness even if no one else is around us. He will know if you harm my daughters or marry other women. 51Here is the pile of rocks that I have put between us and here is the rock I set up on end. 52This pile of rocks and this rock set on end will remind us of our agreement. I will never go past this pile to hurt you, and you must never come to my side of them to hurt me. 53Let the God of Abraham, who is the God of Nahor and the God of their ancestors, punish either of us if we break this agreement.”

So Jacob made a promise in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshiped. 54Then Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his relatives to share in the meal. After they finished eating, they spent the night on the mountain. 55Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them, and then he left to return home.

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