CHAPTER 31
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.”
Then the LORD
said
to
Jacob,
“Go back
to
the land
of your fathers
and to your kindred,
and I will be
with you.”
and he told
them,
“I
can see
from your father’s
face
that
his attitude toward me
has changed;
but the God
of my father
has been
with me.
And although he
has cheated
me
and changed
my wages
ten
times,
God
has not
allowed him
to harm me.
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.
When
the flocks
were breeding,
I saw
in a dream
that the streaked,
spotted,
and speckled
males
were mating
with
the females.
‘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.
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.’”
Are we not
regarded
by him
as outsiders?
Not only
has he sold us,
but he has
certainly squandered
the money paid for us.
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.”
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.
So he
fled
with all
his possessions,
crossed
the Euphrates,
and headed for
the hill country
of Gilead.
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.”
Now Jacob
had pitched
his tent
in the hill country
of Gilead,
and when Laban
overtook
him,
he
and his brothers
camped
there as well.
Then Laban
said
to Jacob,
“What
have you done?
You have deceived
me
and carried off my daughters
like captives
of war!
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.
But you did not
even let
me kiss
my grandchildren
and daughters goodbye .
Now
you have done
a foolish thing.
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.’
Now
you have gone off
because
you long
for your father’s
house.
But why
have you stolen
my gods?”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Then Jacob
became incensed
and challenged
Laban.
“What
is my crime?”
he
said.
“For what
sin of mine
have you so hotly pursued
me?
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.
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.
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.
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!
If the God
of my father,
the God
of Abraham
and the One Feared
by 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.”
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?
and he
said
to his relatives,
“Gather
some stones.”
So they took
stones
and made
a mound,
and there
by
the mound
they ate.
Then Laban
declared,
“This
mound
is a witness
between you
and me
this day.”
Therefore
the place was called
Galeed,
and also Mizpah,
because
he said,
“May the LORD
keep watch
between you
and me
when
we are absent
from one another.
If
you mistreat
my daughters
or
take
other
wives,
although no
one
is with us,
remember
that God
is witness
between you and me.”
Laban
also said
to Jacob,
“Here is
the
mound,
and here is the pillar
I have set up
between you and me.
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.
May the God
of Abraham
and the God
of Nahor,
the God
of their father,
judge
between us.”
So Jacob
swore
by the One feared
by his father
Isaac.
Then Jacob
offered
a sacrifice
on the mountain
and invited
his kinsmen
to eat
a meal.
And after they had eaten,
they spent the night
on the mountain.
Early the next morning,
Laban
got up
and kissed
his grandchildren
and daughters
and blessed them.
Then he
left
to return
home.