Genesis 31

1 Postquam autem audivit verba filiorum Laban dicentium: Tulit Iacob omnia quae fuerunt patris nostri, et de illius facultate ditatus, factus est inclytus:

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:

2 animadvertit quoque faciem Laban, quod non esset erga se sicut heri et nudiustertius,

And perceiving also that Laban’s countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day,

3 maxime dicente sibi Domino: Revertere in terram patrum tuorum, et ad generationem tuam, eroque tecum.

Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

4 Misit, et vocavit Rachel et Liam in agrum, ubi pascebat greges,

He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks,

5 dixitque eis: Video faciem patris vestri quod non sit erga me sicut heri, et nudiustertius: Deus autem patris mei fuit mecum.

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.

6 Et ipsae nostis quod totis viribus meis servierim patri vestro.

And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power.

7 Sed et pater vester circumvenit me, et mutavit mercedem meam decem vicibus: et tamen non dimisit eum Deus ut noceret mihi.

Yea, your father also hath overreached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.

8 Si quando dixit: Variae erunt mercedes tuae: pariebant omnes oves varios foetus. quando vero econtrario ait: Alba quaeque accipies pro mercede: omnes greges alba pepererunt.

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.

9 Tulitque Deus substantiam patris vestri, et dedit mihi.

And God hath taken your father’s substance, and given it 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.

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.

11 Dixitque angelus Dei ad me in somnis: Iacob? Et ego respondi: Adsum.

And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I answered: Here I am.

12 Qui ait: Leva oculos tuos, et vide universos masculos ascendentes super feminas, varios, maculosos, atque respersos. Vidi enim omnia quae fecit tibi Laban.

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.

13 Ego sum Deus Bethel, ubi unxisti lapidem, et votum vovisti mihi. Nunc ergo surge, et egredere de terra hac, revertens in terram nativitatis tuae.

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.

14 Responderuntque Rachel et Lia: Numquid habemus residui quidquam in facultatibus, et hereditate domus patris nostri?

And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father’s house?

15 Nonne quasi alienas reputavit nos, et vendidit, comeditque pretium nostrum?

Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?

16 Sed Deus tulit opes patris nostri, et eas tradidit nobis, ac filiis nostris: unde omnia quae praecepit tibi Deus, fac.

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.

17 Surrexit itaque Iacob, et impositis liberis, ac coniugibus suis super camelos, abiit.

Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way.

18 Tulitque omnem substantiam suam, et greges, et quidquid in Mesopotamia acquisierat, pergens ad Isaac patrem suum in terram Chanaan.

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.

19 Eo tempore ierat Laban ad tondendas oves, et Rachel furata est idola patris sui.

At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father’s idols.

20 Noluitque Iacob confiteri socero suo quod fugeret.

And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was flying away.

21 Cumque abiisset tam ipse quam omnia quae iuris sui erant, et amne transmisso pergeret contra montem Galaad,

And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

22 nunciatum est Laban die tertio quod fugeret Iacob.

It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled.

23 Qui, assumptis fratribus suis, persecutus est eum diebus septem: et comprehendit eum in Monte Galaad.

And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

24 Viditque in somnis dicentem sibi Deum: Cave ne quidquam aspere loquaris contra Iacob.

And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

25 Iamque Iacob 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 mountain: and when he with his brethren had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of Galaad.

26 Et dixit ad Iacob: Quare ita egisti, ut clam me abigeres filias meas quasi captivas gladio?

And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

27 Cur ignorante me fugere voluisti, nec indicare mihi, ut prosequerer te cum gaudio, et canticis, et tympanis, et citharis?

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?

28 Non es passus ut oscularer filios meos et filias: stulte operatus es: et nunc quidem

Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters: thou hast done foolishly: and now, indeed,

29 valet manus mea reddere tibi malum: sed Deus patris tui heri dixit mihi: Cave ne loquaris contra Iacob quidquam durius.

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.

30 Esto, ad tuos ire cupiebas, et desiderio erat tibi domus patris tui: cur furatus es deos meos?

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?

31 Respondit Iacob: Quod inscio te profectus sum, timui ne violenter auferres filias tuas.

Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters 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. haec dicens, ignorabat quod Rachel furata esset idola.

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.

33 Ingressus itaque Laban tabernaculum Iacob et Liae, et utriusque famulae, non invenit. Cumque intrasset tentorium Rachelis,

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,

34 illa festinans abscondit idola subter stramenta cameli, et sedit desuper: scrutantique omne tentorium, et nihil invenienti,

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,

35 ait: Ne irascatur dominus meus quod coram te assurgere nequeo: quia iuxta consuetudinem feminarum nunc accidit mihi. sic delusa solicitudo quaerentis est.

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.

36 Tumensque Iacob, cum iurgio ait: Quam ob culpam meam, et ob quod peccatum meum sic exarsisti post me,

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,

37 et scrutatus es omnem supellectilem meam? Quid invenisti de cuncta substantia domus tuae? pone hic coram fratribus meis, et fratribus tuis, et iudicent inter me, et te.

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.

38 Idcirco viginti annis fui tecum? oves tuae et caprae steriles non fuerunt, arietes gregis tui non comedi:

Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

39 nec captum a bestia ostendi tibi, ego damnum omne reddebam: quidquid furto peribat, a me exigebas:

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:

40 die noctuque aestu urebar, et gelu, fugiebatque somnus ab oculis meis.

Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.

41 Sicque per viginti annos in domo tua servivi tibi, quattuordecim pro filiabus, et sex pro gregibus tuis: immutasti quoque mercedem meam decem vicibus.

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.

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.

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.

43 Respondit ei Laban: Filiae meae et filii, et greges tui, et omnia quae cernis, mea sunt: quid possum facere filiis et nepotibus meis?

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?

44 Veni ergo, et ineamus foedus: ut sit in testimonium inter me et te.

Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a testimony between me and thee.

45 Tulit itaque Iacob lapidem, et erexit illum in titulum:

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:

46 dixitque fratribus suis: Afferte lapides. Qui congregantes fecerunt tumulum, comederuntque super eum:

And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

47 quem vocavit Laban Tumulum testis: et Iacob, Acervum testimonii, uterque iuxta proprietatem linguae suae.

And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.

48 Dixitque Laban: Tumulus iste erit testis inter me et te hodie, et idcirco appellatum est nomen eius Galaad, id est, Tumulus testis.

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.

49 Intueatur et iudicet Dominus inter nos quando recesserimus a nobis,

The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one from the other.

50 si afflixeris filias meas, et si introduxeris alias uxores super eas: nullus sermonis nostri testis est absque Deo, qui praesens respicit.

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.

51 Dixitque rursus ad Iacob: En tumulus hic, et lapis quem erexi inter me et te,

And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee,

52 testis erit: tumulus, inquam, iste et lapis sint in testimonium, si aut ego transiero illum pergens ad te, aut tu praeterieris, malum mihi cogitans.

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.

53 Deus Abraham, et Deus Nachor iudicet inter nos, Deus patris eorum. Iuravit ergo Iacob per timorem patris sui Isaac:

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.

54 immolatisque victimis in monte, vocavit fratres suos ut ederent panem. Qui cum comedissent, manserunt ibi.

And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

55 Laban vero de nocte consurgens, osculatus est filios, et filias suas, et benedixit illis: reversusque est in locum suum.

But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place.