Genesis 31
1 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:
Jacob found out that Laban's sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father. All the wealth he has actually came from our father.”
2 And perceiving also that Laban’s countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day,
Jacob also noticed that Laban was treating him differently to the way he had before.
3 Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.
The Lord told Jacob, “Go back to the country of your forefathers, to your family home. I will be with you.”
4 He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks,
Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah, telling them to come and meet him out in the fields where he was with his flock.
5 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.
“I've noticed that your father is treating me differently to the way he did before,” he told them. “But the God of my father will be with me.
6 And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power.
You both know very well how hard I worked for your father.
7 Yea, your father also hath overreached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.
But he's been cheating me—he's reduced my wages ten times! However, God hasn't let him hurt me.
8 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.
If he said, ‘You can have the speckled ones as your wages,’ then the whole flock had speckled young. If he said, ‘You can have the streaked ones as your wages,’ then the whole flock had streaked young.
9 And God hath taken your father’s substance, and given it to me.
This is how God took your father's livestock and gave them to me.
10 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.
During the time the flock was breeding I had a dream where I saw that the male goats mating with the flock were all streaked, speckled, or spotted.
11 And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I answered: Here I am.
Then in the dream the angel of the Lord spoke to me and said, ‘Jacob!’ I replied, ‘I'm here.’
12 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.
He told me, ‘Take a look and you'll see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I've been watching everything that Laban has been doing to you.
13 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.
I am the God of Bethel, where you poured olive oil on the stone pillar and made a solemn promise to me. Now get ready to leave this land and go back to your homeland.’”
14 And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father’s house?
“There's nothing for us to inherit from our father's estate anyway,” Rachel and Leah replied.
15 Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?
“He treats us like foreigners because he sold us to you, and now he's spent all that money.
16 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.
All the wealth that God has taken from him belongs to us and our children, so do whatever God has told you to do!”
17 Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way.
So Jacob got ready. He helped his children and his wives onto the camels,
18 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.
and drove all his livestock in front of him. He took with him all his possessions and livestock he'd gained during his time in Paddan-aram, and left to go back to his father in the country of Canaan.
19 At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father’s idols.
While Laban was away from home shearing his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father.
20 And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was flying away.
Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not informing him that he was going to run away.
21 And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,
So Jacob left in a hurry with everything he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed towards the hill country of Gilead.
22 It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled.
Three days later Laban found out that Jacob had run away.
23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.
Taking some of his relatives with him, he chased after Jacob and caught up with him seven days later in the hill country of Gilead.
24 And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.
But during the night God came to Laban in a dream and told him, “Watch what you say to Jacob. Don't try to persuade him to come back, and don't threaten him either.”
25 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.
Jacob had set up his tents in the hill country of Gilead when Laban caught up with him, so Laban and his relatives did the same.
26 And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.
“Why did you deceive me like this?” Laban asked Jacob. “You carried off my daughters as if they were some prisoners captured by the sword!
27 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?
Why did you run away in secret, trying to trick me? Why didn't you come and tell me? I would have given you a good send-off, a celebration with singing and the music of tambourines and lyres.
28 Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters: thou hast done foolishly: and now, indeed,
You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye! You've really acted stupidly!
29 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.
I could really punish you badly, but the God of your father spoke to me last night and told me, ‘Watch what you say to Jacob. Don't try to persuade him to come back, and don't threaten him either.’
30 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?
Clearly you wanted to leave and go back to your family home, but why did you have to steal my idols?”
31 Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.
“I ran away because I was afraid,” Jacob explained to Laban. “I was worried that you would take your daughters from me by force.
32 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.
As for your idols, anyone you find who has them will die. You can search everything in the presence of our relatives, and if you find I have anything that belongs to you, you can take it.” (Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.)
33 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,
Laban searched the tents of Jacob, Leah, and the two personal maids, but didn't find anything. He left Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent.
34 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,
Rachel had put the household idols in a camel's saddlebag and was sitting on it. Laban carefully searched the whole tent but couldn't find them.
35 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.
She said to her father, “Sir, please don't get upset with me for not standing up in your presence, but I have my period.” He looked everywhere but didn't find the idols.
36 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,
Jacob got angry with Laban and confronted him, saying, “What crime am I guilty of? What wrong have I done to you that you've come hunting me down?
37 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.
You've searched through all my possessions. Did you find anything belonging to you? If you did, bring it out here before my relatives and yours so they can decide who's right!
38 Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:
I've worked for you for these past twenty years. During that time none of your sheep and goats miscarried, and I haven't eaten a single ram from your flock.
39 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:
If any of them were killed by wild animals, I never even brought you the carcass to prove the loss—I bore the loss myself. But you on the other hand always made me compensate you for any animals that were stolen, whether at night or in broad daylight.
40 Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.
Whether it was sweating in the heat of the day, or freezing in the cold of the night when I couldn't sleep, I went on working for you for twenty years in your home.
41 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.
I worked fourteen years for your two daughters, and six more years with your flocks. You reduced my wages ten times!
42 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.
If it weren't for the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the awesome God of Isaac, who took care of me, you would have dismissed me with nothing. But God saw my suffering, how hard I worked, and he condemned you last night.”
43 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?
Laban replied, “These are my daughters and these are my children and these are my flocks! In fact, everything you see here is mine! However, what can I do now about my daughters and their children?
44 Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a testimony between me and thee.
So let's make a solemn agreement between you and I, and it will be a witness to our mutual commitment.”
45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:
Jacob took a stone and set it upright as a pillar.
46 And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.
Then he told his relatives, “Go and collect some stones.” They all made a pile of stones and then sat beside it to eat a meal.
47 And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.
Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, while Jacob called it Galeed.
48 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.
Laban announced, “This pile of stone serves as a witness between me and you.” This is why it was called Galeed.
49 The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one from the other.
It was also called Mizpah, for as Laban said, “May the Lord keep a close eye on both of us when we're not together.
50 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.
If you treat my daughters badly or marry more wives in addition to them, God will see what you do even if no one else finds out!”
51 And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee,
Then Laban told Jacob, “Look at this pile of stones and this pillar that I have set up as a memorial of the agreement between you and me.
52 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.
They also act as a witness to our solemn promises to each other: I will not come past them to attack you; and you will not come past them to attack me.
53 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.
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor—the God of our forefathers—be the one to judge between us in any dispute.” Jacob in turn made his solemn promise in the name of the awesome God of his father Isaac.
54 And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:
Then he offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited all his relatives to eat a meal there. They spent the night on the mountain.
55 But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.
Laban got up early in the morning and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye. He blessed them, and then left to go back home.
