Genesis 31

1 Aftir that Jacob herde the wordis of the sones of Laban, that seiden, Jacob hath take awei alle thingis that weren oure fadris, and of his catel Jacob is maad riche, and noble.

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.

2 Also Jacob perseyuede the face of Laban, that it was not ayens hym as yistirdai, and the thridde dai agoon,

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

3 moost for the Lord seide to hym, Turne ayen into the lond of thi fadris, and to thi generacioun, and Y shal be with thee.

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

4 He sente, and clepide Rachel, and Lya, in to the feeld, where he kepte flockis, and he seide to hem,

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

5 Y se the face of youre fadir, that it is not ayens me as `yisterdai and the thridde dai agoon; but God of my fadir was with me.

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

6 And ye witen that with alle my strengthis Y seruede youre fadir;

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

7 but and youre fadir disseyuyde me, and chaungide my meede ten sithis; and netheles God suffride not hym to anoye me.

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.

8 If he seide ony tyme, Dyuerse colourid sheep schulen be thi medis, alle sheep brouyten forth dyuerse colourid lambren; forsothe whanne he seide ayenward, Thou shalte take alle white for mede, alle the flockis brouyten forth white beestis;

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.

9 and God took a wey the substaunce of youre fadir, and yaf to me.

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

10 For aftir that the tyme of conseyuyng of sheep cam, Y reiside myn iyen, and seiy in sleep malis dyuerse, and spotti, and of dyuerse colouris, stiynge on femalis.

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.

11 And the aungel of the Lord seide to me in sleep, Jacob! and Y answeride, Y am redy.

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

12 Which seide, Reise thin iyen, and se alle malis dyuerse, byspreynt, and spotti, stiynge on femalis; for Y seiy alle thingis whiche Laban dide to thee;

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.

13 Y am God of Bethel, where thou anoyntidist a stoon, and madist auow to me. Now therefor rise thou, and go out of this lond, and turne ayen in to the lond of thi birthe.

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.

14 And Rachel and Lya answeriden, Wher we han ony thing residue in the catels, and eritage of oure fadir?

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

15 Wher he `arettide not vs as aliens, and selde, and eet oure prijs?

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.

16 But God took awei the richessis of oure fadir, and yaf tho to vs, and to oure sones; wherfor do thou alle thingis whiche God hath comaundide to thee.

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

17 Forsothe Jacob roos, and puttide hise fre children and wyues on camels, and yede forth;

Then Jacob put his wives and his sons on camels;

18 and he took al his catel, flockis, and what euer thing he hadde gete in Mesopotanye, and yede to Isaac, his fadir, into the lond of Canaan.

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.

19 In that tyme Laban yede to schere scheep, and Rachel stal the idols of hir fadir.

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.

20 And Jacob nolde knouleche to the fadir of his wijf, that he wolde fle;

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

21 and whanne he hadde go, as wel he as alle thingis that weren of his riyt, and whanne he hadde passid the water, and he yede ayens the hil of Galaad,

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

22 it was teld to Laban, in the thridde dai, that Jacob fledde.

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

23 And Laban took his britheren, and pursuede hym seuene daies, and took hym in the hil of Galaad.

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.

24 And Laban seiy in sleep the Lord seiynge to him, Be war that thou speke not ony thing sharpli ayens Jacob.

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.

25 And thanne Jacob hadde stretchid forth the tabernacle in the hil; and whanne he hadde sued Jacob with his britheren, `he settide tente in the same hil of Galaad; and he seide to Jacob,

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.

26 Whi hast thou do so, that the while I wiste not thou woldist dryue awey my douytris as caitifs by swerd?

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

27 Whi woldist thou fle the while Y wiste not, nether woldist shewe to me, that Y shulde sue thee with ioie, and songis, and tympans, and harpis?

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?

28 Thou suffridist not that Y schulde kisse my sones and douytris; thou hast wrouyt folili.

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

29 And now sotheli myn hond mai yelde yuel to thee, but the God of thi fadir seide to me yisterdai, Be war that thou speke not ony harder thing with Jacob.

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.

30 Suppose, if thou coueitedist to go to thi kynesmen, and the hows of thi fadir was in desir to thee, whi hast thou stole my goddis?

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?

31 Jacob answeride, That Y yede forth while thou wistist not, Y dredde lest thou woldist take awey thi douytris violentli;

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

32 sotheli that thou repreuest me of thefte, at whom euer thou fyndist thi goddis, be he slayn bifor oure britheren; seke thou, what euer thing of thine thou fyndist at me, and take awei. Jacob seide these thingis, and wiste not that Rachel stal the idols.

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.

33 And so Laban entride into the tabernacle of Jacob, and of Lya, and of euer eithir meyne, and foond not; and whanne Laban hadde entrid in to the tente of Rachel,

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.

34 sche hastide, and hidde the idols vndur the strewyngis of the camel, and sat aboue. And sche seide to Laban, sekynge al the tente and fyndynge no thing,

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.

35 My lord, be not wrooth that Y may not rise bifore thee, for it bifelde now to me bi the custom of wymmen; so the bisynesse of the sekere was scorned.

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.

36 And Jacob bolnyde, and seide with strijf, For what cause of me, and for what synne of me, hast thou come so fersly aftir me,

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

37 and hast souyt al `the portenaunce of myn hous? What `hast thou founde of al the catel of thin hows? Putte thou here bifore my britheren and thi britheren, and deme thei betwixe me and thee.

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.

38 Was I with thee herfore twenti yeer? Thi sheep and geet weren not bareyn, Y eet not the rammes of thi flok,

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.

39 nether Y schewide to thee ony thing takun of a beeste; Y yeldide al harm; what euer thing perischide bi thefte, thou axidist of me;

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.

40 Y was angwischid in dai and nyyt with heete and frost, and sleep fledde fro myn iyen;

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

41 so Y seruede thee bi twenti yeer in thin hows, fourtene yeer for thi douytris, and sixe yeer for thi flockis; and thou chaungidist my mede ten sithis.

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.

42 If God of my fadir Abraham, and the drede of Isaac hadde not helpid me, perauenture now thou haddist left me nakid; the Lord bihelde my turmentyng and the traueyl of myn hondis, and repreuyde thee yistirdai.

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.

43 Laban answeride hym, The douytris, and thi sones, and flockis, and alle thingis whiche thou seest, ben myne, what mai Y do to my sones, and to the sones of sones?

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?

44 Therfor come thou, and make we boond of pees, that it be witnessyng bitwixe me, and thee.

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

45 And so Jacob took a stoon, and reiside it in to a signe, and seide to hise britheren,

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

46 Brynge ye stoonus; whiche gadriden, and maden an heep, and eten on it.

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

47 And Laban clepide it the heep of wittnesse, and Jacob clepide it the heep of witnessyng; euer eithir clepide bi the proprete of his langage.

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

48 And Laban seide, This heep schal be witnesse bytwixe me and thee to day, and herfor the name therof was clepid Galaad, that is, the heep of witnesse.

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

49 And Laban addide, The Lord biholde, and deme bitwixe vs, whanne we schulen go awei fro yow;

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

50 if thou schalt turmente my douytris, and if thou schal brynge yn othere wyues on hem, noon is witnesse of oure word, outakun God, whiche is present, and biholdith.

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.

51 And eft he seide to Jacob, Lo! this heep, and stoon, whiche Y reiside bitwixe me and thee, schal be witnesse;

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

52 sotheli this heep, and stoon be in to witnessyng, forsothe if Y schal passe it, and go to thee, ether thou shalt passe, and thenke yuel to me.

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.

53 God of Abraham, and God of Nachor, God of the fadir of hem, deme bitwixe vs. Therfor Jacob swoor by the drede of his fadir Ysaac;

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.

54 and whanne slayn sacrifices weren offrid in the hil, he clepyde his britheren to ete breed, and whanne thei hadden ete, thei dwelliden there.

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.

55 Forsothe Laban roos bi nyyt, and kisside his sones, and douytris, and blesside hem, and turnede ayen in to his place.

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