Genesis 31

1 Now it came to the ears of Jacob that Laban's sons were saying, Jacob has taken away all our father's property, and in this way he has got all this wealth.

But after that he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s, and being enriched by his substance is become great:

2 And Jacob saw that Laban's feeling for him was no longer what it had been before.

And perceiving also that Laban’s countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day,

3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, Go back to the land of your fathers, and to your relations, and I will be with you.

Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

4 And Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come to him in the field among his flock.

He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks,

5 And he said to them, It is clear to me that your father's feeling is no longer what it was to me; but the God of my father has been with me

And said to them: I see your father’s countenance is not towards me as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father hath been with me.

6 And you have seen how I have done all in my power for your father,

And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power.

7 But your father has not kept faith with me, and ten times he has made changes in my payment; but God has kept him from doing me damage.

Yea, your father also hath overreached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.

8 If he said, All those in the flock which have marks are to be yours, then all the flock gave birth to marked young; and if he said, All the banded ones are to be yours, then all the flock had banded young.

If at any time he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou shalt take all the white ones for thy wages: all the flocks brought forth white ones.

9 So God has taken away your father's cattle and has given them to me.

And God hath taken your father’s substance, and given it to me.

10 And at the time when the flock were with young, I saw in a dream that all the he-goats which were joined with the she-goats were banded and marked and coloured.

For after that time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in my sleep that the males which leaped upon the females were of divers colours, and spotted, and speckled.

11 And in my dream the angel of the Lord said to me, Jacob: and I said, Here am I.

And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I answered: Here I am.

12 And he said, See how all the he-goats are banded and marked and coloured: for I have seen what Laban has done to you.

And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee.

13 I am the God of Beth-el, where you put oil on the pillar and took an oath to me: now then, come out of this land and go back to the country of your birth.

I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return into thy native country.

14 Then Rachel and Leah said to him in answer, What part or heritage is there for us in our father's house?

And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father’s house?

15 Are we not as people from a strange country to him? for he took a price for us and now it is all used up.

Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?

16 For the wealth which God has taken from him is ours and our children's; so now, whatever God has said to you, do.

But God hath taken our father’s riches, and delivered them to us, and to our children: wherefore do all that God hath commanded thee.

17 Then Jacob put his wives and his sons on camels;

Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way.

18 And sending on before him all his cattle and his property which he had got together in Paddan-aram, he made ready to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac his father to the land of Chanaan.

19 Now Laban had gone to see to the cutting of the wool of his sheep; so Rachel secretly took the images of the gods of her father's house.

At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father’s idols.

20 And Jacob went away secretly, without giving news of his flight to Laban the Aramaean.

And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was flying away.

21 So he went away with all he had, and went across the River in the direction of the hill-country of Gilead.

And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

22 And on the third day Laban had news of Jacob's flight.

It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled.

23 And taking the men of his family with him, he went after him for seven days and overtook him in the hill-country of Gilead.

And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

24 Then God came to Laban in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care that you say nothing good or bad to Jacob.

And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

25 Now when Laban overtook him, Jacob had put up his tent in the hill-country; and Laban and his brothers put up their tents in the hill-country of Gilead.

Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when he with his brethren had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of Galaad.

26 And Laban said to Jacob, Why did you go away secretly, taking my daughters away like prisoners of war?

And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

27 Why did you make a secret of your flight, not giving me word of it, so that I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with melody and music?

Why wouldst thou run away privately and not acquaint me, that I might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with timbrels, and with harps?

28 You did not even let me give a kiss to my sons and my daughters. This was a foolish thing to do.

Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters: thou hast done foolishly: and now, indeed,

29 It is in my power to do you damage: but the God of your father came to me this night, saying, Take care that you say nothing good or bad to Jacob.

It is in my power to return thee evil: but the God of your father said to me yesterday: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

30 And now, it seems, you are going because your heart's desire is for your father's house; but why have you taken my gods?

Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a longing after thy father’s house: why hast thou stolen away my gods?

31 And Jacob, in answer, said to Laban, My fear was that you might take your daughters from me by force.

Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.

32 As for your gods, if anyone of us has them, let him be put to death: make search before us all for what is yours, and take it. For Jacob had no knowledge that Rachel had taken them.

But whereas thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.

33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent, and into the tents of the two servant-women, but they were not there; and he came out of Leah's tent and went into Rachel's.

So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel’s tent,

34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and had put them in the camels' basket, and was seated on them. And Laban, searching through all the tent, did not come across them.

She in haste hid the idols under the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found nothing,

35 And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry because I do not get up before you, for I am in the common condition of women. And with all his searching, he did not come across the images.

She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee, because it has now happened to me, according to the custom of women, So his careful search was in vain.

36 Then Jacob was angry with Laban, and said, What crime or sin have I done that you have come after me with such passion?

And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what fault of mine, and for what offence on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me,

37 Now that you have made search through all my goods, what have you seen which is yours? Make it clear now before my people and your people, so that they may be judges between us.

And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.

38 These twenty years I have been with you; your sheep and your goats have had young without loss, not one of your he-goats have I taken for food.

Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

39 Anything which was wounded by beasts I did not take to you, but myself made up for the loss of it; you made me responsible for whatever was taken by thieves, by day or by night.

Neither did I show thee that which the beast had torn, I made good all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me:

40 This was my condition, wasted by heat in the day and by the bitter cold at night; and sleep went from my eyes.

Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.

41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I was your servant for fourteen years because of your daughters, and for six years I kept your flock, and ten times was my payment changed.

And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years, fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks: thou hast changed also my wages ten times.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing in my hands. But God has seen my troubles and the work of my hands, and this night he kept you back.

Unless the God of my father Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked: God beheld my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.

43 Then Laban, answering, said, These women are my daughters and these children my children, the flocks and all you see are mine: what now may I do for my daughters and for their children?

Laban answered him: The daughters are mine and the children, and thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what can I do to my children, and grandchildren?

44 Come, let us make an agreement, you and I; and let it be for a witness between us.

Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a testimony between me and thee.

45 Then Jacob took a stone and put it up as a pillar.

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:

46 And Jacob said to his people, Get stones together; and they did so; and they had a meal there by the stones.

And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

47 And the name Laban gave it was Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob gave it the name of Galeed.

And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.

48 And Laban said, These stones are a witness between you and me today. For this reason its name was Galeed,

And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The witness heap.

49 And Mizpah, for he said, May the Lord keep watch on us when we are unable to see one another's doings.

The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one from the other.

50 If you are cruel to my daughters, or if you take other wives in addition to my daughters, then though no man is there to see, God will be the witness between us.

If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and beholdeth.

51 And Laban said, See these stones and this pillar which I have put between you and me;

And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee,

52 They will be witness that I will not go over these stones to you, and you will not go over these stones or this pillar to me, for any evil purpose.

Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou shalt pass beyond it, thinking harm to me.

53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, be our judge. Then Jacob took an oath by the Fear of his father Isaac.

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

54 And Jacob made an offering on the mountain, and gave orders to his people to take food: so they had a meal and took their rest that night on the mountain.

And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

55 And early in the morning Laban, after kissing and blessing his daughters, went on his way back to his country.

But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.