Gen 31 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons , saying , “ Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s , and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth .”

Genesis 31

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

1 Now ^{▼▼ Lit he}Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this ^{▼▼ Lit glory}wealth.” 2 Jacob saw the ^{▼▼ Lit face}attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, ^d“Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and ^eI will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, 5 and said to them, ^f“I see your father’s ^{▼▼ Lit face}attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but ^hthe God of my father has been with me. 6 ⁱ“You know that I have served your father with all my strength. 7 “Yet your father has ^jcheated me and ^kchanged my wages ten times; however, ^lGod did not allow him to hurt me. 8 “If ^mhe spoke thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth striped. 9 “Thus God has ⁿtaken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. 10 “And it came about at the time when the flock were ^{▼▼ Or conceiving}mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were ^{▼▼ Lit leaping upon the flock}mating were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 “Then ^qthe angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 “He said, ‘Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are ^{▼▼ Lit leaping upon the flock}mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for ^sI have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 ‘I am ^tthe God of Bethel, where you ^uanointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, ^{▼▼ Lit go out from}leave this land, and ^wreturn to the land of your birth.’” 14 Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house? 15 “Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For ^xhe has sold us, and has also ^{▼▼ I.e. enjoyed the benefit of}entirely consumed ^{▼▼ Lit our money}our purchase price. 16 “Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”

17 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; 18 and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, ^aato go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the ^{▼▼ Heb teraphim
,} ^achousehold idols that were her father’s. 20 And Jacob ^{▼▼ Lit stole the heart of}deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of ^aeGilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 then he took his ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 ^agGod came to Laban the Aramean in a ^ahdream of the night and said to him, ^{▼▼ Lit Take heed to yourself
,} ^aj“Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

25 Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done ^{▼▼ Lit and you have stolen my heart}by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 “Why did you flee secretly and ^{▼▼ Lit steal me}deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with ^antimbrel and with ^aolyre; 28 and did not allow me ^apto kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29 “It is in ^{▼▼ Lit the power of my hand}my power to do you harm, but ^arthe God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘ ^{▼▼ Lit Take heed to yourself
,} ^atBe careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ 30 “Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal ^aumy gods?” 31 Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 ^av“The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen ^{▼▼ Lit recognize}point out what is yours ^{▼▼ Lit with me}among my belongings and take it for yourself.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the ^{▼▼ Heb teraphim}household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. 35 She said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot ^barise before you, for the manner of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the ^{▼▼ Heb teraphim
,} ^bchousehold idols.

36 Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? 37 “Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen and your ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 “These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 “That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 “Thus I was: by day the ^{▼▼ Or drought}heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 “These twenty years I have been in your house; ^bgI served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you ^bhchanged my wages ten times. 42 “If ^bithe God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^bjGod has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He ^bkrendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

43 Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and ^blthe flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? 44 “So now come, let us ^bmmake a covenant, ^{▼▼ Lit I and you}you and I, and ^bolet it be a witness between ^{▼▼ Lit me and you}you and me.” 45 Then Jacob took ^bqa stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 Jacob said to his ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Now Laban ^bscalled it ^{▼▼ I.e. the heap of witness, in Aram}Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^{▼▼ I.e. the heap of witness, in Heb}Galeed. 48 Laban said, ^bv“This heap is a witness between ^{▼▼ Lit me and you}you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, 49 and ^{▼▼ Lit the Mizpah; i.e. the watchtower
,} ^byMizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between ^{▼▼ Lit me and you}you and me when we are ^{▼▼ Lit hidden}absent one from the other. 50 “If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, ^cbGod is witness between ^{▼▼ Lit me and you}you and me.” 51 Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between ^{▼▼ Lit me and you}you and me. 52 “This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53 ^ce“The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, ^cfjudge between us.” So Jacob swore by ^cgthe fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob ^choffered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his ^{▼▼ Lit brothers}kinsmen to ^{▼▼ Lit eat bread}the meal; and they ate ^{▼▼ Lit bread}the meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 ^{▼▼ Ch 32:1 in Heb}Early in the morning Laban arose, and ^cmkissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.