¹⁰ Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels^(A) loaded with all kinds of good things^(B) from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim^[a](C) and made his way to the town of Nahor.^(D)

² Go at once to Paddan Aram,^[a](A) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.^(B) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{(C) 3} May God Almighty^[b](D) bless^(E) you and make you fruitful^(F) and increase your numbers^(G) until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,^(H) so that you may take possession of the land^(I) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(J) the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,^(K) and he went to Paddan Aram,^(L) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,^(M) the brother of Rebekah,^(N) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”^{(O) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

Jacob Flees From Laban

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons^(A) were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”^{(B) 2} And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.^(C)

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back^(D) to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”^(E)

⁴ So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I see that your father’s^(F) attitude toward me is not what it was before,^(G) but the God of my father has been with me.^{(H) 6} You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,^{(I) 7} yet your father has cheated^(J) me by changing my wages^(K) ten times.^(L) However, God has not allowed him to harm me.^{(M) 8} If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’^(N) then all the flocks bore streaked young.

¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,^[a](A) he arrived safely at the city of Shechem^(B) in Canaan and camped within sight of the city.