Genesis 30:28-31:16
New King James Version
28 Then he said, (A)“Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
29 So Jacob said to him, (B)“You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. 30 For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you [a]since my coming. And now, when shall I also (C)provide for my own house?”
31 So he said, “What shall I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 32 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and (D)these shall be my wages. 33 So my (E)righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 35 So he removed that day the male goats that were (F)speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Now (G)Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. 38 And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man (H)became exceedingly prosperous, and (I)had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Jacob Flees from Laban
31 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 (J)wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw the (K)countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not (L)favorable toward him as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, (M)“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will (N)be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5 and said to them, (O)“I see your father’s [b]countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father (P)has been with me. 6 And (Q)you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7 Yet your father has deceived me and (R)changed my wages (S)ten times, but God (T)did not allow him to hurt me. 8 If he said thus: (U)‘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. 9 So God has (V)taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
10 “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. 11 Then (W)the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for (X)I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, (Y)where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now (Z)arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”
14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, (AA)“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not considered strangers by him? For (AB)he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. 16 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.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:30 Lit. at my foot
- Genesis 31:5 Lit. face
Genesis 30:28-31:16
New American Standard Bible
28 He [a]continued, “(A)Name me your wages, and I will give them.” 29 But Jacob said to him, “(B)You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have [b]fared with me. 30 For you had little before [c]I came, and it has [d]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you [e]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: 32 let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every (C)speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. 33 So my [f]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my [g]wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” 34 Laban said, “[h]Good, let it be according to your word.” 35 So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the [i]care of his sons. 36 And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Then Jacob [j]took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was [k]in the rods. 38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. 40 Then Jacob separated the lambs, and [l]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods; 42 but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. 43 So (D)the man [m]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan
31 Now [n]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 [o]wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw the [p]attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as it had been before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “(E)Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and (F)I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, 5 and said to them, “(G)I see your father’s [q]attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as it was before, but (H)the 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 (J)cheated me and (K)changed my wages ten times; however, (L)God did not allow him to do me harm. 8 If (M)he said this: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered speckled; and if he said this: ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered striped. 9 So God has (N)taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. 10 And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were [r]mating were striped, speckled, or mottled. 11 Then (O)the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He said, ‘Now raise your eyes and see that all the male goats that are [s]mating are striped, speckled, or mottled; for (P)I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am (Q)the God of Bethel, where you (R)anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, [t]leave this land, and (S)return to the land of your birth.’” 14 Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For (T)he has sold us, and has also [u]entirely consumed our [v]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 told you.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:28 Lit said
- Genesis 30:29 Lit been
- Genesis 30:30 Lit me
- Genesis 30:30 Lit broken forth
- Genesis 30:30 Lit at my foot
- Genesis 30:33 Lit righteousness
- Genesis 30:33 Lit wages which are before you
- Genesis 30:34 Lit Behold, would that it might be
- Genesis 30:35 Lit hand
- Genesis 30:37 Lit took to himself
- Genesis 30:37 Lit on
- Genesis 30:40 Lit set the faces
- Genesis 30:43 Lit broke forth
- Genesis 31:1 Lit he
- Genesis 31:1 Lit glory
- Genesis 31:2 Lit face
- Genesis 31:5 Lit face
- Genesis 31:10 Lit leaping upon the flock
- Genesis 31:12 Lit leaping upon the flock
- Genesis 31:13 Lit Go out from
- Genesis 31:15 I.e., enjoyed the benefit of
- Genesis 31:15 Lit money
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
