Genesis 31
1 Postquam autem audivit verba filiorum Laban dicentium: Tulit Jacob omnia quæ fuerunt patris nostri, et de illius facultate ditatus, factus est inclytus:
Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.”
2 animadvertit quoque faciem Laban, quod non esset erga se sicut heri et nudiustertius,
And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed.
3 maxime dicente sibi Domino: Revertere in terram patrum tuorum, et ad generationem tuam, eroque tecum.
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
4 Misit, et vocavit Rachel et Liam in agrum, ubi pascebat greges,
So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were,
5 dixitque eis: Video faciem patris vestri quod non sit erga me sicut heri et nudiustertius: Deus autem patris mei fuit mecum.
and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.
6 Et ipsæ nostis quod totis viribus meis servierim patri vestro.
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.
7 Sed et pater vester circumvenit me et mutavit mercedem meam decem vicibus: et tamen non dimisit eum Deus ut noceret mihi.
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
8 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.
If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.
9 Tulitque Deus substantiam patris vestri, et dedit mihi.
Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
10 Postquam enim conceptus ovium tempus advenerat, levavi oculos meos, et vidi in somnis ascendentes mares super feminas, varios et maculosos, et diversorum colorum.
When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.
11 Dixitque angelus Dei ad me in somnis: Jacob? Et ego respondi: Adsum.
In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Here I am.’
12 Qui ait: Leva oculos tuos, et vide universos masculos ascendentes super feminas, varios, maculosos, atque respersos. Vidi enim omnia quæ fecit tibi Laban.
‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.
13 Ego sum Deus Bethel, ubi unxisti lapidem, et votum vovisti mihi. Nunc ergo surge, et egredere de terra hac, revertens in terram nativitatis tuæ.
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
14 Responderuntque Rachel et Lia: Numquid habemus residui quidquam in facultatibus et hæreditate domus patris nostri?
And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?
15 nonne quasi alienas reputavit nos, et vendidit, comeditque pretium nostrum?
Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.
16 Sed Deus tulit opes patris nostri, et eas tradidit nobis, ac filiis nostris: unde omnia quæ præcepit tibi Deus, fac.
Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
17 Surrexit itaque Jacob, et impositis liberis ac conjugibus suis super camelos, abiit.
Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels,
18 Tulitque omnem substantiam suam, et greges, et quidquid in Mesopotamia acquisierat, pergens ad Isaac patrem suum in terram Chanaan.
and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.
19 Eo tempore ierat Laban ad tondendas oves, et Rachel furata est idola patris sui.
Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
20 Noluitque Jacob confiteri socero suo quod fugeret.
Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was running away.
21 Cumque abiisset tam ipse quam omnia quæ juris sui erant, et amne transmisso pergeret contra montem Galaad,
So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
22 nuntiatum est Laban die tertio quod fugeret Jacob.
On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled.
23 Qui, assumptis fratribus suis, persecutus est eum diebus septem: et comprehendit eum in monte Galaad.
So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
24 Viditque in somnis dicentem sibi Deum: Cave ne quidquam aspere loquaris contra Jacob.
But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25 Jamque Jacob extenderat in monte tabernaculum: cumque ille consecutus fuisset eum cum fratribus suis, in eodem monte Galaad fixit tentorium.
Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well.
26 Et dixit ad Jacob: Quare ita egisti, ut clam me abigeres filias meas quasi captivas gladio?
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
27 cur ignorante me fugere voluisti, nec indicare mihi, ut prosequerer te cum gaudio, et canticis, et tympanis, et citharis?
Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
28 Non es passus ut oscularer filios meos et filias: stulte operatus es: et nunc quidem
But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.
29 valet manus mea reddere tibi malum: sed Deus patris vestri heri dixit mihi: Cave ne loquaris contra Jacob quidquam durius.
I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
30 Esto, ad tuos ire cupiebas, et desiderio erat tibi domus patris tui: cur furatus es deos meos?
Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”
31 Respondit Jacob: Quod inscio te profectus sum, timui ne violenter auferres filias tuas.
“I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.
32 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.
If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
33 Ingressus itaque Laban tabernaculum Jacob, et Liæ, et utriusque famulæ, non invenit. Cumque intrasset tentorium Rachelis,
So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
34 illa festinans abscondit idola subter stramenta cameli, et sedit desuper: scrutantique omne tentorium, et nihil invenienti,
Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.
35 ait: Ne irascatur dominus meus quod coram te assurgere nequeo: quia juxta consuetudinem feminarum nunc accidit mihi: sic delusa sollicitudo quærentis est.
Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
36 Tumensque Jacob, cum jurgio ait: Quam ob culpam meam, et ob quod peccatum meum sic exarsisti post me,
Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?
37 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.
You have searched all my goods! Have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us.
38 Idcirco viginti annis fui tecum? oves tuæ et capræ steriles non fuerunt, arietes gregis tui non comedi:
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
39 nec captum a bestia ostendi tibi, ego damnum omne reddebam: quidquid furto peribat, a me exigebas:
I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.
40 die noctuque æstu urebar, et gelu, fugiebatque somnus ab oculis meis.
As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
41 Sicque per viginti annos in domo tua servivi tibi, quatuordecim pro filiabus, et sex pro gregibus tuis: immutasti quoque mercedem meam decem vicibus.
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
42 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.
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
43 Respondit ei Laban: Filiæ meæ et filii, et greges tui, et omnia quæ cernis, mea sunt: quid possum facere filiis et nepotibus meis?
But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne?
44 Veni ergo, et ineamus fœdus, ut sit in testimonium inter me et te.
Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”
45 Tulit itaque Jacob lapidem, et erexit illum in titulum:
So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar,
46 dixitque fratribus suis: Afferte lapides. Qui congregantes fecerunt tumulum, comederuntque super eum:
and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate.
47 quem vocavit Laban Tumulum testis: et Jacob, Acervum testimonii, uterque juxta proprietatem linguæ suæ.
Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Dixitque Laban: Tumulus iste erit testis inter me et te hodie, et idcirco appellatum est nomen ejus Galaad, id est, Tumulus testis.
Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.
49 Intueatur et judicet Dominus inter nos quando recesserimus a nobis,
It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.
50 si afflixeris filias meas, et si introduxeris alias uxores super eas: nullus sermonis nostri testis est absque Deo, qui præsens respicit.
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
51 Dixitque rursus ad Jacob: En tumulus hic, et lapis quem erexi inter me et te,
Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is the mound, and here is the pillar I have set up between you and me.
52 testis erit: tumulus, inquam, iste et lapis sint in testimonium, si aut ego transiero illum pergens ad te, aut tu præterieris, malum mihi cogitans.
This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me.
53 Deus Abraham, et Deus Nachor, judicet inter nos, Deus patris eorum. Juravit ergo Jacob per timorem patris sui Isaac:
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
54 immolatisque victimis in monte, vocavit fratres suos ut ederent panem. Qui cum comedissent, manserunt ibi:
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.
55 Laban vero de nocte consurgens, osculatus est filios, et filias suas, et benedixit illis: reversusque est in locum suum.
Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.
