Genesis 31
1 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.”
Postquam autem audivit verba filiorum Laban dicentium: Tulit Jacob omnia quæ fuerunt patris nostri, et de illius facultate ditatus, factus est inclytus:
2 And Jacob noticed that Laban was not acting friendly toward him as he had done before.
animadvertit quoque faciem Laban, quod non esset erga se sicut heri et nudiustertius,
3 Then Yahweh said to Jacob, “Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will help you there.”
maxime dicente sibi Domino: Revertere in terram patrum tuorum, et ad generationem tuam, eroque tecum.
4 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.
Misit, et vocavit Rachel et Liam in agrum, ubi pascebat greges,
5 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.
dixitque eis: Video faciem patris vestri quod non sit erga me sicut heri et nudiustertius: Deus autem patris mei fuit mecum.
6 You two know that I have worked very hard for your father,
Et ipsæ nostis quod totis viribus meis servierim patri vestro.
7 but many times [HYP] he has cheated me by decreasing my wages. But God has not allowed him to harm me.
Sed et pater vester circumvenit me et mutavit mercedem meam decem vicibus: et tamen non dimisit eum Deus ut noceret mihi.
8 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.
Si quando dixit: Variæ erunt mercedes tuæ: pariebant omnes oves varios fœtus; quando vero e contrario, ait: Alba quæque accipies pro mercede: omnes greges alba pepererunt.
9 In that way, God has taken away the livestock that belonged to your father and has given them to me.
Tulitque Deus substantiam patris vestri, et dedit mihi.
10 “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.
Postquam enim conceptus ovium tempus advenerat, levavi oculos meos, et vidi in somnis ascendentes mares super feminas, varios et maculosos, et diversorum colorum.
11 An angel who was sent by God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ I replied, ‘I am here!’
Dixitque angelus Dei ad me in somnis: Jacob? Et ego respondi: Adsum.
12 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.
Qui ait: Leva oculos tuos, et vide universos masculos ascendentes super feminas, varios, maculosos, atque respersos. Vidi enim omnia quæ fecit tibi Laban.
13 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.’”
Ego sum Deus Bethel, ubi unxisti lapidem, et votum vovisti mihi. Nunc ergo surge, et egredere de terra hac, revertens in terram nativitatis tuæ.
14 Rachel and Leah replied, “Our father will not give us anything more when he dies [RHQ].
Responderuntque Rachel et Lia: Numquid habemus residui quidquam in facultatibus et hæreditate domus patris nostri?
15 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!
nonne quasi alienas reputavit nos, et vendidit, comeditque pretium nostrum?
16 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!”
Sed Deus tulit opes patris nostri, et eas tradidit nobis, ac filiis nostris: unde omnia quæ præcepit tibi Deus, fac.
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels.
Surrexit itaque Jacob, et impositis liberis ac conjugibus suis super camelos, abiit.
18 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.
Tulitque omnem substantiam suam, et greges, et quidquid in Mesopotamia acquisierat, pergens ad Isaac patrem suum in terram Chanaan.
19 Before they left, while Laban was shearing his sheep, Rachel stole the [small wooden] idols [that were in her father’s tent].
Eo tempore ierat Laban ad tondendas oves, et Rachel furata est idola patris sui.
20 Furthermore, Jacob deceived Laban, who belonged to the Aram people-group, by not telling him that they were planning to leave.
Noluitque Jacob confiteri socero suo quod fugeret.
21 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.
Cumque abiisset tam ipse quam omnia quæ juris sui erant, et amne transmisso pergeret contra montem Galaad,
22 On the third day after they left, someone told Laban that Jacob and his family had left.
nuntiatum est Laban die tertio quod fugeret Jacob.
23 So he took some of his relatives with him and started to pursue Jacob. They continued walking for seven days.
Qui, assumptis fratribus suis, persecutus est eum diebus septem: et comprehendit eum in monte Galaad.
24 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!”
Viditque in somnis dicentem sibi Deum: Cave ne quidquam aspere loquaris contra Jacob.
25 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.
Jamque Jacob extenderat in monte tabernaculum: cumque ille consecutus fuisset eum cum fratribus suis, in eodem monte Galaad fixit tentorium.
26 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]!
Et dixit ad Jacob: Quare ita egisti, ut clam me abigeres filias meas quasi captivas gladio?
27 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?
cur ignorante me fugere voluisti, nec indicare mihi, ut prosequerer te cum gaudio, et canticis, et tympanis, et citharis?
28 (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!
Non es passus ut oscularer filios meos et filias: stulte operatus es: et nunc quidem
29 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.’
valet manus mea reddere tibi malum: sed Deus patris vestri heri dixit mihi: Cave ne loquaris contra Jacob quidquam durius.
30 Now, I know you have left because you long to go back home. But why did you steal my [wooden] idols?”
Esto, ad tuos ire cupiebas, et desiderio erat tibi domus patris tui: cur furatus es deos meos?
31 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.
Respondit Jacob: Quod inscio te profectus sum, timui ne violenter auferres filias tuas.
32 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.
Quod autem furti me arguis: apud quemcumque inveneris deos tuos, necetur coram fratribus nostris: scrutare, quidquid tuorum apud me inveneris, et aufer. Hæc dicens, ignorabat quod Rachel furata esset idola.
33 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.
Ingressus itaque Laban tabernaculum Jacob, et Liæ, et utriusque famulæ, non invenit. Cumque intrasset tentorium Rachelis,
34 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.
illa festinans abscondit idola subter stramenta cameli, et sedit desuper: scrutantique omne tentorium, et nihil invenienti,
35 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.
ait: Ne irascatur dominus meus quod coram te assurgere nequeo: quia juxta consuetudinem feminarum nunc accidit mihi: sic delusa sollicitudo quærentis est.
36 Then Jacob became angry. He rebuked Laban, saying, “What crime did I commit? For what sin that I committed have you pursued me?
Tumensque Jacob, cum jurgio ait: Quam ob culpam meam, et ob quod peccatum meum sic exarsisti post me,
37 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!
et scrutatus es omnem supellectilem meam? quid invenisti de cuncta substantia domus tuæ? pone hic coram fratribus meis, et fratribus tuis, et judicent inter me et te.
38 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.
Idcirco viginti annis fui tecum? oves tuæ et capræ steriles non fuerunt, arietes gregis tui non comedi:
39 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.
nec captum a bestia ostendi tibi, ego damnum omne reddebam: quidquid furto peribat, a me exigebas:
40 I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was often not even able to sleep [PRS]!
die noctuque æstu urebar, et gelu, fugiebatque somnus ab oculis meis.
41 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].
Sicque per viginti annos in domo tua servivi tibi, quatuordecim pro filiabus, et sex pro gregibus tuis: immutasti quoque mercedem meam decem vicibus.
42 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.”
Nisi Deus patris mei Abraham, et timor Isaac affuisset mihi, forsitan modo nudum me dimisisses: afflictionem meam et laborem manuum mearum respexit Deus, et arguit te heri.
43 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]?
Respondit ei Laban: Filiæ meæ et filii, et greges tui, et omnia quæ cernis, mea sunt: quid possum facere filiis et nepotibus meis?
44 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.”
Veni ergo, et ineamus fœdus, ut sit in testimonium inter me et te.
45 So Jacob took a [large] stone and set it on its end.
Tulit itaque Jacob lapidem, et erexit illum in titulum:
46 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.
dixitque fratribus suis: Afferte lapides. Qui congregantes fecerunt tumulum, comederuntque super eum:
47 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].
quem vocavit Laban Tumulum testis: et Jacob, Acervum testimonii, uterque juxta proprietatem linguæ suæ.
48 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.
Dixitque Laban: Tumulus iste erit testis inter me et te hodie, et idcirco appellatum est nomen ejus Galaad, id est, Tumulus testis.
49 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].
Intueatur et judicet Dominus inter nos quando recesserimus a nobis,
50 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!”
si afflixeris filias meas, et si introduxeris alias uxores super eas: nullus sermonis nostri testis est absque Deo, qui præsens respicit.
51 Laban also said to Jacob, “You see this large stone and this pile of rocks that we have set up to be between us.
Dixitque rursus ad Jacob: En tumulus hic, et lapis quem erexi inter me et te,
52 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.
testis erit: tumulus, inquam, iste et lapis sint in testimonium, si aut ego transiero illum pergens ad te, aut tu præterieris, malum mihi cogitans.
53 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.
Deus Abraham, et Deus Nachor, judicet inter nos, Deus patris eorum. Juravit ergo Jacob per timorem patris sui Isaac:
54 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.
immolatisque victimis in monte, vocavit fratres suos ut ederent panem. Qui cum comedissent, manserunt ibi:
55 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.
Laban vero de nocte consurgens, osculatus est filios, et filias suas, et benedixit illis: reversusque est in locum suum.
