Genesis 31 (New American Standard)

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

1 Now ^aJacob 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 ^bwealth." 2 Jacob saw the ^cattitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. 3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "¹Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and ²I will be with you." 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, 5 and said to them, "³I see your father's ^dattitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but ⁴the God of my father has been with me. 6 "⁵You know that I have served your father with all my strength. 7 "Yet your father has ⁶cheated me and ⁷changed my wages ten times ; however, ⁸God did not allow him to hurt me. 8 "If ⁹he 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 ¹⁰taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. 10 "And it came about at the time when the flock were ^emating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were ^fmating were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 "Then ¹¹the 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 ^gmating are striped, speckled, and mottled ; for ¹²I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 'I am ¹³the God of Bethel, where you ¹⁴anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, ^hleave this land, and ¹⁵return 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 ¹⁶he has sold us, and has also ⁱentirely consumed ^jour 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, ¹⁷to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the ^k18household idols that were her father's. 20 And Jacob ^ldeceived 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 ¹⁹Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 then he took his ^mkinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 ²⁰God came to Laban the Aramean in a ²¹dream of the night and said to him, "ⁿ²²Be 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 ^okinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done ^pby deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword ? 27 "Why did you flee secretly and ^qdeceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with ²³timbrel and with ²⁴lyre ; 28 and did not allow me ²⁵to kiss my sons and my daughters ? Now you have done foolishly. 29 "It is in ^rmy power to do you harm, but ²⁶the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, '^s27Be 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 ²⁸my 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 "²⁹The one with whom you find your gods shall not live ; in the presence of our ^tkinsmen ^upoint out what is yours ^vamong 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 ^whousehold 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 ³⁰rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the ^x31household 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 ^ykinsmen and your ^zkinsmen, 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 ^aaheat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 "These twenty years I have been in your house ; ³²I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you ³³changed my wages ten times. 42 "If ³⁴the 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. ³⁵God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He ³⁶rendered 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 ³⁷the 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 ³⁸make a covenant, ^bbyou and I, and ³⁹let it be a witness between ^ccyou and me." 45 Then Jacob took ⁴⁰a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 Jacob said to his ^ddkinsmen, "Gather stones." So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Now Laban ⁴¹called it ^eeJegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^ffGaleed. 48 Laban said, "⁴²This heap is a witness between ^ggyou and me this day." Therefore it was named Galeed, 49 and ^hh43Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between ⁱⁱyou and me when we are ^jjabsent 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, ⁴⁴God is witness between ^kkyou and me." 51 Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between ^llyou 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 "⁴⁵The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, ⁴⁶judge between us." So Jacob swore by ⁴⁷the fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob ⁴⁸offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his ^mmkinsmen to ⁿⁿthe meal ; and they ate ^oothe meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 ^ppEarly in the morning Laban arose, and ⁴⁹kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.