Genesis 31
1 And he hears the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken all that our father has; indeed, from that which our father has, he has made all this glory”;
Someone told Jacob that Laban’s sons were complaining and saying, “Jacob has become very rich by taking everything [HYP] that belonged to our father.”
2 and Jacob sees the face of Laban, and behold, it is not with him as before.
And Jacob noticed that Laban was not acting friendly toward him as he had done before.
3 And YHWH says to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your family, and I am with you.”
Then Yahweh said to Jacob, “Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will help you there.”
4 And Jacob sends and calls for Rachel and for Leah to the field to his flock;
So Jacob sent a message to Rachel and Leah, telling them to come out to the pastures where his flocks of sheep and goats were.
5 and says to them, “I am beholding your father’s face—that it is not toward me as before, and the God of my father has been with me,
When they arrived, he said to them, “I see that your father does not act friendly toward me as he did previously. But God, whom my father worshiped, has helped me.
6 and you have known that with all my power I have served your father,
You two know that I have worked very hard for your father,
7 and your father has played on me, and has changed my hire ten times; and God has not permitted him to do evil with me.
but many times [HYP] he has cheated me by decreasing my wages. But God has not allowed him to harm me.
8 If he says thus: The speckled are your hire, then all the flock bore speckled ones; and if he says thus: The striped are your hire, then all the flock bore striped;
When Laban said, ‘The speckled animals are the ones that I will give you to be your wages,’ then all the animals gave birth to young ones that were speckled. When he changed and said, ‘The ones that have black and white stripes on them will be your wages,’ then all the animals gave birth to young ones that were striped.
9 and God takes away the substance of your father, and gives to me.
In that way, God has taken away the livestock that belonged to your father and has given them to me.
10 And it comes to pass at the time of the flock conceiving, that I lift up my eyes and see in a dream, and behold, the male goats, which are going up on the flock, [are] striped, speckled, and spotted;
“One time, when the animals were mating, I had a dream. In my dream I [looked up and was surprised to] see that some of the male goats that were mating with the female goats had black and white stripes on them, some were speckled, and some were spotted.
11 and the Messenger of God says to me in the dream, Jacob, and I say, Here I [am].
An angel who was sent by God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ I replied, ‘I am here!’
12 And He says, Now lift up your eyes and see [that] all the male goats which are going up on the flock [are] striped, speckled, and spotted, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you;
He said to me, ‘Look up and you will see that all the male goats that are mating have black and white stripes on them, or are speckled or spotted. This is happening because I have seen all that Laban has done to you.
13 I [am] the God of Bethel where you have anointed a standing pillar, where you have vowed a vow to me; now, arise, go out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.”
I am God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you set up a stone to show that the place was holy, and you poured [olive] oil on the stone and made a solemn promise to me. So now leave this land immediately, and return to the land where you were born.’”
14 And Rachel answers—Leah also—and says to him, “Have we yet a portion and inheritance in the house of our father?
Rachel and Leah replied, “Our father will not give us anything more when he dies [RHQ].
15 Have we not been reckoned strangers to him? For he has sold us, and he also utterly consumes our money;
He treats us as though we were foreigners [RHQ]! [Your working for him all these years was like a payment] that you gave him as a price for us, but we will not inherit any of that money that he got as a price for us. He has spent it all!
16 for all the wealth which God has taken away from our father, it [is] ours, and our children’s; and now, all that God has said to you—do.”
Surely all of the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you to do!”
17 And Jacob rises, and lifts up his sons and his wives on the camels,
Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels.
18 and leads all his livestock, and all his substance which he has acquired, the livestock of his getting, which he has acquired in Padan-Aram, to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan.
He made all his livestock go ahead of him. Besides the livestock, he took along all the other things that he had acquired while living in Paddan-Aram. And they prepared to return to his father Isaac, in the Canaan region.
19 And Laban has gone to shear his flock, and Rachel steals the teraphim which her father has;
Before they left, while Laban was shearing his sheep, Rachel stole the [small wooden] idols [that were in her father’s tent].
20 and Jacob deceives the heart of Laban the Aramean, because he has not declared to him that he is fleeing;
Furthermore, Jacob deceived Laban, who belonged to the Aram people-group, by not telling him that they were planning to leave.
21 and he flees, he and all that he has, and rises, and passes over the River, and sets his face [toward] the Mount of Gilead.
So Jacob and his family fled with all their possessions, and they crossed the Euphrates River, and then started traveling south toward the hilly Gilead region.
22 And it is told to Laban on the third day that Jacob has fled,
On the third day after they left, someone told Laban that Jacob and his family had left.
23 and he takes his brothers with him, and pursues after him a journey of seven days, and overtakes him in the Mount of Gilead.
So he took some of his relatives with him and started to pursue Jacob. They continued walking for seven days.
24 And God comes to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and says to him, “Take heed to yourself lest you speak with Jacob from good to evil.”
Then God appeared to Laban in a dream at night, and said to him, “When you catch up to Jacob, be sure that you do not say anything at all [HYP] to him in an angry manner!”
25 And Laban overtakes Jacob; and Jacob has fixed his tent in the mountain; and Laban with his brothers have fixed [theirs] in the Mount of Gilead.
The next day, by the time Laban caught up with Jacob, Jacob and his household had set up their tents in the hilly Gilead region. So Laban and his relatives set up their tents there, too.
26 And Laban says to Jacob, “What have you done that you deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword?
Then Laban went to Jacob and said to him, “Why have you done this? You have deceived me by carrying away my daughters as though you had captured them in a war [MTY]!
27 Why have you hidden yourself to flee, and deceive me, and have not declared to me, and I send you away with joy and with songs, with tambourine and with harp,
Why did you run away and deceive me? Why did you not tell me that you were going to leave, so that we could have rejoiced and sung while people played music on tambourines and harps before I said ‘goodbye’ to you?
28 and have not permitted me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have acted foolishly in doing [so];
(You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye before they left!/Why did you not allow me to kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye before they left?) [RHQ] What you have done was foolish!
29 my hand is to God to do evil with you, but the God of your father last night has spoken to me, saying, Take heed to yourself from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.
My relatives and I have the power to harm you, but last night the God whom your father worships said to me in a dream, ‘Be sure that you do not say anything at all to Jacob in an angry way.’
30 And now, you have certainly gone, because you have been very desirous for the house of your father; why have you stolen my gods?”
Now, I know you have left because you long to go back home. But why did you steal my [wooden] idols?”
31 And Jacob answers and says to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest you violently take away your daughters from me;
Jacob replied to Laban, saying, “I did not tell you that we were planning to leave, because I was afraid. I thought that [if I told you], you would forcefully take your daughters away from me.
32 with whomsoever you find your gods—he must not live; before our brothers discern for yourself what [is] with me, and take to yourself”: and Jacob has not known that Rachel has stolen them.
But if you find anyone here who has your wooden idols, we will execute that person. While our relatives are watching, search for yourself to see if there is anything that belongs to you that is here with me. If you find anything, you can take it!” When Jacob said that, he did not know that Rachel had stolen the wooden idols.
33 And Laban goes into the tent of Jacob, and into the tent of Leah, and into the tent of the two handmaidens, and has not found; and he goes out from the tent of Leah, and goes into the tent of Rachel.
Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and then into Leah’s tent, and then into the tents of the two female slaves and searched for the idols, but he did not find them. After he left their tents, he entered Rachel’s tent.
34 And Rachel has taken the teraphim, and puts them in the furniture of the camel, and sits on them; and Laban feels all the tent, and has not found;
But Rachel had previously taken the idols and put them in the saddle of a camel, and she was sitting on the saddle. So when Laban searched all over for them inside Rachel’s tent, he did not find them.
35 and she says to her father, “Let it not be displeasing in the eyes of my lord that I am not able to rise at your presence, for the way of women [is] on me”; and he searches, and has not found the teraphim.
Rachel said to her father, “Do not be angry with me, sir, but I cannot get up in your presence [to show respect for you], because I am having my monthly menstrual period. [EUP]” So when Laban searched some more, he did not find the [wooden] idols.
36 And it is displeasing to Jacob, and he strives with Laban; and Jacob answers and says to Laban, “What [is] my transgression? What my sin, that you have burned after me?
Then Jacob became angry. He rebuked Laban, saying, “What crime did I commit? For what sin that I committed have you pursued me?
37 For you have felt all my vessels: what have you found of all the vessels of your house? Set here before my brothers, and your brothers, and they decide between us both.
Now you have searched through all my possessions, and what did you find from all these possessions that belongs to you? Put it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they can decide who is right, you or me!
38 These twenty years I [am] with you: your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and the rams of your flock I have not eaten;
I was with you for 20 years. In all that time, your sheep and goats have (not miscarried/always given birth to animals safely). I have not [killed and] eaten any rams from your flocks.
39 the torn I have not brought to you—I repay it—from my hand you seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night;
When one of your animals was attacked and mauled/killed by a wild animal, I did not bring it to you. I replaced the dead animal with a living one of my own animals. Whenever one of your animals was stolen, during the day or during the night, you demanded that I replace it with one of my own animals.
40 I have been [thus]: drought has consumed me in the day, and frost by night, and my sleep wanders from my eyes.
I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was often not even able to sleep [PRS]!
41 This [is] to me twenty years in your house: I have served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock; and you change my hire ten times;
I lived in your household for 20 years. I worked for you for 14 years to buy your two daughters, and for six more years to buy some of your sheep and goats. During that time, you changed and reduced my wages many times [HYP].
42 unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now you had sent me away empty; God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and reproves last night.”
If God, the one whom my grandfather Abraham worshiped and before whom my father Isaac trembled in fear, had not been with me and helped me, you would have sent me away (with nothing in my hands/owning nothing)! But God saw how much I was suffering and how hard I was working, so last night he told you that what you have done to me was wrong.”
43 And Laban answers and says to Jacob, “The daughters [are] my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the flock my flock, and all that you are seeing [is] mine; and to my daughters—what do I to these today, or to their sons whom they have born?
Laban replied, “These two women are my daughters, and their children are my grandchildren, and the animals are my animals. Everything you see here is mine [HYP]! But what can I do today to keep my daughters or the children they have given birth to [RHQ]?
44 And now, come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and it has been for a witness between me and you.”
I cannot do anything in order to keep them, so hey, we should make a peace agreement, you and I, and do something that will remind us about our agreement.”
45 And Jacob takes a stone, and lifts it up [for] a standing pillar;
So Jacob took a [large] stone and set it on its end.
46 and Jacob says to his brothers, “Gather stones,” and they take stones, and make a heap; and they eat there on the heap;
Then Jacob said to his relatives, “You also gather some stones.” So they gathered some rocks and put them in a heap, and they ate some food there near the heap.
47 and Laban calls it Jegar-Sahadutha; and Jacob has called it Galeed.
Laban gave the heap the Aramaic name Jegar-Sahadutha, [which means ‘rock-pile to remind us’, ] but Jacob gave the rock-pile the Hebrew name Galeed, [which has the same meaning].
48 And Laban says, “This heap [is] witness between me and you today”; therefore has he called its name Galeed;
Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks we have put here today will help us to remember our agreement.” That is why Jacob called it Galeed.
49 Mizpah also, for he said, “YHWH watches between me and you, for we are hidden from one another;
They also named the place Mizpah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘watchtower’, ] because Laban said, “We will ask Yahweh to watch you and me while we are separated from each other, [so that we do not try to harm each other].
50 if you afflict my daughters, or take wives beside my daughters—there is no man with us—see, God [is] witness between me and you.”
If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take other women to be your wives, even if no one tells me about it, don’t forget that God sees what you and I are doing!”
51 And Laban says to Jacob, “Behold, this heap, and behold, the standing pillar which I have cast between me and you;
Laban also said to Jacob, “You see this large stone and this pile of rocks that we have set up to be between us.
52 this heap [is] witness, and the standing pillar [is] witness, that I do not pass over this heap to you, and that you do not pass over this heap and this standing pillar to me—for evil;
Both this pile of rocks and this large stone will remind us, that I will not go past these rocks to harm you, and you will not go past these rocks to harm me.
53 the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, judges between us—the God of their father,” and Jacob swears by the Fear of his father Isaac.
We will ask the God whom [your grandfather] Abraham and [his father] Nahor worshiped to punish [MTY] either one of us, [if we harm the other one].” So Jacob solemnly promised to do what they said in their peace agreement. And he asked God, the one before whom his father Isaac trembled, to listen to what they promised.
54 And Jacob sacrifices a sacrifice on the mountain, and calls to his brothers to eat bread, and they eat bread, and lodge on the mountain;
He offered a sacrifice to God there in the hilly area, and he invited his relatives to eat with him. After they had eaten, they slept there that night.
55 and Laban rises early in the morning, and kisses his sons and his daughters, and blesses them; and Laban goes on, and turns back to his place.
The next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters [goodbye] and asked God to bless them. Then he [and his men] left them and returned home.
