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Jacob Flees from Laban
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.”
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.”
Jacob Flees from Laban
But Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him. “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.”
But Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him. “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.”
And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.
And Jacob began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.”
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,
So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the field where he was watching his flock.
He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me.
And you know that with all my might I have served your father.
You know how hard I have worked for your father,
Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.
but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm.
If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked.
For if he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young.
So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.
“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.
“One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’
Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’
And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
“The angel said, ‘Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. For I have seen how Laban has treated you.
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”
Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
Rachel and Leah responded, “That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway.
Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money.
He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he wasted the money you paid him for us.
For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”
All the wealth God has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever God has told you.”
Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels.
So Jacob put his wives and children on camels,
And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
and he drove all his livestock in front of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land of Canaan, where his father, Isaac, lived.
At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.
And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.
Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out secretly and never told Laban they were leaving.
Laban Pursues Jacob
And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.
And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.
Laban Pursues Jacob
Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead.
So he gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Jacob seven days later in the hill country of Gilead.
But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”
But the previous night God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you — leave Jacob alone!”
So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.
Laban caught up with Jacob as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead, and he set up his camp not far from Jacob’s.
And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?
“What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war?
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
Why did you slip away secretly? Why did you deceive me? And why didn’t you say you wanted to leave? I would have given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps.
And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing.
Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren and tell them good-bye? You have acted very foolishly!
It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’
I could destroy you, but the God of your father appeared to me last night and warned me, ‘Leave Jacob alone!’
And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
I can understand your feeling that you must go, and your intense longing for your father’s home. But why have you stolen my gods?”
Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’
“I rushed away because I was afraid,” Jacob answered. “I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.
With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
But as for your gods, see if you can find them, and let the person who has taken them die! And if you find anything else that belongs to you, identify it before all these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!” But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.
And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
Laban went first into Jacob’s tent to search there, then into Leah’s, and then the tents of the two servant wives — but he found nothing. Finally, he went into Rachel’s tent.
But Rachel had taken the household idols and hidden them in her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on them. When Laban had thoroughly searched her tent without finding them,
she said to her father, “Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you. I’m having my monthly period.” So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.
Then Jacob became very angry, and he challenged Laban. “What’s my crime?” he demanded. “What have I done wrong to make you chase after me as though I were a criminal?
Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both!
You have rummaged through everything I own. Now show me what you found that belongs to you! Set it out here in front of us, before our relatives, for all to see. Let them judge between us!
These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock.
“For twenty years I have been with you, caring for your flocks. In all that time your sheep and goats never miscarried. In all those years I never used a single ram of yours for food.
That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, I never showed you the carcass and asked you to reduce the count of your flock. No, I took the loss myself! You made me pay for every stolen animal, whether it was taken in broad daylight or in the dark of night.
There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.
“I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through cold and sleepless nights.
Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
Yes, for twenty years I slaved in your house! I worked for fourteen years earning your two daughters, and then six more years for your flock. And you changed my wages ten times!
Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Laban’s Covenant with Jacob
And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; 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?
And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; 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?
Jacob’s Treaty with Laban
Then Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks — in fact, everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and their children?
So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument.
Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.
Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.” So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal.
To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha (which means “witness pile” in Aramaic), and Jacob called it Galeed (which means “witness pile” in Hebrew).
And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed,
Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.” This explains why it was called Galeed — “Witness Pile.”
But it was also called Mizpah (which means “watchtower”), for Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between us to make sure that we keep this covenant when we are out of each other’s sight.
If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us — see, God is witness between you and me!”
If you mistreat my daughters or if you marry other wives, God will see it even if no one else does. He is a witness to this covenant between us.
Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me.
“See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us.
This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me.
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain.
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice to God there on the mountain and invited everyone to a covenant feast. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.