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Genesis 30:25-32:21
The Message
Genesis 30:25-32:21
The Message
25-26 After Rachel had had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban, “Let me go back home. Give me my wives and children for whom I’ve served you. You know how hard I’ve worked for you.”
27-28 Laban said, “If you please, I have learned through divine inquiry that God has blessed me because of you.” He went on, “So name your wages. I’ll pay you.”
29-30 Jacob replied, “You know well what my work has meant to you and how your livestock has flourished under my care. The little you had when I arrived has increased greatly; everything I did resulted in blessings for you. Isn’t it about time that I do something for my own family?”
31-33 “So, what should I pay you?”
Jacob said, “You don’t have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go back to pasture and care for your flocks. Go through your entire flock today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. That way you can check on my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that’s not speckled or spotted or a sheep that’s not black, you will know that I stole it.”
34 “Fair enough,” said Laban. “It’s a deal.”
35-36 But that very day Laban removed all the mottled and spotted billy goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny goats, every animal that had even a touch of white on it plus all the black sheep and placed them under the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what was left of Laban’s flock.
37-42 But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn’t mix with Laban’s flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches. But he wouldn’t set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob.
43 The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of servants, not to mention camels and donkeys.
31 1-2 Jacob learned that Laban’s sons were talking behind his back: “Jacob has used our father’s wealth to make himself rich at our father’s expense.” At the same time, Jacob noticed that Laban had changed toward him. He wasn’t treating him the same.
3 That’s when God said to Jacob, “Go back home where you were born. I’ll go with you.”
4-9 So Jacob sent word for Rachel and Leah to meet him out in the field where his flocks were. He said, “I notice that your father has changed toward me; he doesn’t treat me the same as before. But the God of my father hasn’t changed; he’s still with me. You know how hard I’ve worked for your father. Still, your father has cheated me over and over, changing my wages time and again. But God never let him really hurt me. If he said, ‘Your wages will consist of speckled animals’ the whole flock would start having speckled lambs and kids. And if he said, ‘From now on your wages will be streaked animals’ the whole flock would have streaked ones. Over and over God used your father’s livestock to reward me.
10-11 “Once, while the flocks were mating, I had a dream and saw the billy goats, all of them streaked, speckled, and mottled, mounting their mates. In the dream an angel of God called out to me, ‘Jacob!’
“I said, ‘Yes?’
12-13 “He said, ‘Watch closely. Notice that all the goats in the flock that are mating are streaked, speckled, and mottled. I know what Laban’s been doing to you. I’m the God of Bethel where you consecrated a pillar and made a vow to me. Now be on your way, get out of this place, go home to your birthplace.’”
14-16 Rachel and Leah said, “Has he treated us any better? Aren’t we treated worse than outsiders? All he wanted was the money he got from selling us, and he’s spent all that. Any wealth that God has seen fit to return to us from our father is justly ours and our children’s. Go ahead. Do what God told you.”
17-18 Jacob did it. He put his children and his wives on camels and gathered all his livestock and everything he had gotten, everything acquired in Paddan Aram, to go back home to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19-21 Laban was off shearing sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household gods. And Jacob had concealed his plans so well that Laban the Aramean had no idea what was going on—he was totally in the dark. Jacob got away with everything he had and was soon across the Euphrates headed for the hill country of Gilead.
22-24 Three days later, Laban got the news: “Jacob’s run off.” Laban rounded up his relatives and chased after him. Seven days later they caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, “Be careful what you do to Jacob, whether good or bad.”
25 When Laban reached him, Jacob’s tents were pitched in the Gilead mountains; Laban pitched his tents there, too.
26-30 “What do you mean,” said Laban, “by keeping me in the dark and sneaking off, hauling my daughters off like prisoners of war? Why did you run off like a thief in the night? Why didn’t you tell me? Why, I would have sent you off with a great celebration—music, timbrels, flutes! But you wouldn’t permit me so much as a kiss for my daughters and grandchildren. It was a stupid thing for you to do. If I had a mind to, I could destroy you right now, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, ‘Be careful what you do to Jacob, whether good or bad.’ I understand. You left because you were homesick. But why did you steal my household gods?”
31-32 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid. I thought you would take your daughters away from me by brute force. But as far as your gods are concerned, if you find that anybody here has them, that person dies. With all of us watching, look around. If you find anything here that belongs to you, take it.” Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
33-35 Laban went through Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and the tents of the two maids but didn’t find them. He went from Leah’s tent to Rachel’s. But Rachel had taken the household gods, put them inside a camel cushion, and was sitting on them. When Laban had gone through the tent, searching high and low without finding a thing, Rachel said to her father, “Don’t think I’m being disrespectful, my master, that I can’t stand before you, but I’m having my period.” So even though he turned the place upside down in his search, he didn’t find the household gods.
36-37 Now it was Jacob’s turn to get angry. He lit into Laban: “So what’s my crime, what wrong have I done you that you badger me like this? You’ve ransacked the place. Have you turned up a single thing that’s yours? Let’s see it—display the evidence. Our two families can be the jury and decide between us.
38-42 “In the twenty years I’ve worked for you, ewes and she-goats never miscarried. I never feasted on the rams from your flock. I never brought you a torn carcass killed by wild animals but that I paid for it out of my own pocket—actually, you made me pay whether it was my fault or not. I was out in all kinds of weather, from torrid heat to freezing cold, putting in many a sleepless night. For twenty years I’ve done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not stuck with me, you would have sent me off penniless. But God saw the fix I was in and how hard I had worked and last night rendered his verdict.”
43-44 Laban defended himself: “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock—everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they’ve had? So let’s settle things between us, make a covenant—God will be the witness between us.”
45 Jacob took a stone and set it upright as a pillar.
46-47 Jacob called his family around, “Get stones!” They gathered stones and heaped them up and then ate there beside the pile of stones. Laban named it in Aramaic, Yegar-sahadutha (Witness Monument); Jacob echoed the naming in Hebrew, Galeed (Witness Monument).
48-50 Laban said, “This monument of stones will be a witness, beginning now, between you and me.” (That’s why it is called Galeed—Witness Monument.) It is also called Mizpah (Watchtower) because Laban said, “God keep watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives when there’s no one around to see you, God will see you and stand witness between us.”
51-53 Laban continued to Jacob, “This monument of stones and this stone pillar that I have set up is a witness, a witness that I won’t cross this line to hurt you and you won’t cross this line to hurt me. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (the God of their ancestor) will keep things straight between us.”
53-55 Jacob promised, swearing by the Fear, the God of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and worshiped, calling in all his family members to the meal. They ate and slept that night on the mountain. Laban got up early the next morning, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, blessed them, and then set off for home.
32 1-2 And Jacob went his way. Angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them he said, “Oh! God’s Camp!” And he named the place Mahanaim (Campground).
3-5 Then Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir in Edom. He instructed them: “Tell my master Esau this, ‘A message from your servant Jacob: I’ve been staying with Laban and couldn’t get away until now. I’ve acquired cattle and donkeys and sheep; also men and women servants. I’m telling you all this, my master, hoping for your approval.’”
6 The messengers came back to Jacob and said, “We talked to your brother Esau and he’s on his way to meet you. But he has four hundred men with him.”
7-8 Jacob was scared. Very scared. Panicked, he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two camps. He thought, “If Esau comes on the first camp and attacks it, the other camp has a chance to get away.”
9-12 And then Jacob prayed, “God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, ‘Go back to your parents’ homeland and I’ll treat you well.’ I don’t deserve all the love and loyalty you’ve shown me. When I left here and crossed the Jordan I only had the clothes on my back, and now look at me—two camps! Save me, please, from the violence of my brother, my angry brother! I’m afraid he’ll come and attack us all, me, the mothers and the children. You yourself said, ‘I will treat you well; I’ll make your descendants like the sands of the sea, far too many to count.’”
13-16 He slept the night there. Then he prepared a present for his brother Esau from his possessions: two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty camels with their nursing young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put a servant in charge of each herd and said, “Go ahead of me and keep a healthy space between each herd.”
17-18 Then he instructed the first one out: “When my brother Esau comes close and asks, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? Who owns these?’—answer him like this, ‘Your servant Jacob. They are a gift to my master Esau. He’s on his way.’”
19-20 He gave the same instructions to the second servant and to the third—to each in turn as they set out with their herds: “Say ‘Your servant Jacob is on his way behind us.’” He thought, “I will soften him up with the succession of gifts. Then when he sees me face-to-face, maybe he’ll be glad to welcome me.”
21 So his gifts went before him while he settled down for the night in the camp.
Genesis 30:25-32:21
New International Version
Genesis 30:25-32:21
New International Version
Jacob’s Flocks Increase
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way(A) so I can go back to my own homeland.(B) 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you,(C) and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(D) please stay. I have learned by divination(E) that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”(F) 28 He added, “Name your wages,(G) and I will pay them.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you(H) and how your livestock has fared under my care.(I) 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.(J) But now, when may I do something for my own household?(K)”
31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat.(L) They will be my wages.(M) 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored,(N) will be considered stolen.(O)”
34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs,(P) and he placed them in the care of his sons.(Q) 36 Then he put a three-day journey(R) between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond(S) and plane trees(T) and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.(U) 38 Then he placed the peeled branches(V) in all the watering troughs,(W) so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat(X) and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches.(Y) And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.(Z) 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals(AA) that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat,(AB) Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,(AC) 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.(AD) 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.(AE)
Jacob Flees From Laban
31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons(AF) were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”(AG) 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.(AH)
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back(AI) to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”(AJ)
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(AK) attitude toward me is not what it was before,(AL) but the God of my father has been with me.(AM) 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,(AN) 7 yet your father has cheated(AO) me by changing my wages(AP) ten times.(AQ) However, God has not allowed him to harm me.(AR) 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,’(AS) then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock(AT) and has given them to me.(AU)
10 “In breeding season I once had a dream(AV) in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God(AW) said to me in the dream,(AX) ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’(AY) 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted,(AZ) for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.(BA) 13 I am the God of Bethel,(BB) where you anointed a pillar(BC) and where you made a vow(BD) to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.(BE)’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share(BF) in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners?(BG) Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.(BH) 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.(BI) So do whatever God has told you.”
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives(BJ) on camels,(BK) 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated(BL) in Paddan Aram,[a](BM) to go to his father Isaac(BN) in the land of Canaan.(BO)
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep,(BP) Rachel stole her father’s household gods.(BQ) 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived(BR) Laban the Aramean(BS) by not telling him he was running away.(BT) 21 So he fled(BU) with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River,(BV) and headed for the hill country of Gilead.(BW)
Laban Pursues Jacob
22 On the third day(BX) Laban was told that Jacob had fled.(BY) 23 Taking his relatives(BZ) with him(CA), he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.(CB) 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean(CC) in a dream at night and said to him,(CD) “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”(CE)
25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead(CF) when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done?(CG) You’ve deceived me,(CH) and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.(CI) 27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me,(CJ) so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels(CK) and harps?(CL) 28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye.(CM) You have done a foolish thing. 29 I have the power to harm you;(CN) but last night the God of your father(CO) said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’(CP) 30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household.(CQ) But why did you steal(CR) my gods?(CS)”
31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.(CT) 32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live.(CU) In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.(CV)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent(CW) and into the tent of the two female servants,(CX) but he found nothing.(CY) After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods(CZ) and put them inside her camel’s saddle(DA) and was sitting on them. Laban searched(DB) through everything in the tent but found nothing.
35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence;(DC) I’m having my period.(DD)” So he searched but could not find the household gods.(DE)
36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged(DF) you that you hunt me down?(DG) 37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household?(DH) Put it here in front of your relatives(DI) and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.(DJ)
38 “I have been with you for twenty years now.(DK) Your sheep and goats have not miscarried,(DL) nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen(DM) by day or night.(DN) 40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.(DO) 41 It was like this for the twenty years(DP) I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters(DQ) and six years for your flocks,(DR) and you changed my wages(DS) ten times.(DT) 42 If the God of my father,(DU) the God of Abraham(DV) and the Fear of Isaac,(DW) had not been with me,(DX) you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,(DY) and last night he rebuked you.(DZ)”
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks.(EA) All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let’s make a covenant,(EB) you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”(EC)
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.(ED) 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,(EE) and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.[b](EF)
48 Laban said, “This heap(EG) is a witness between you and me today.”(EH) That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah,[c](EI) because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat(EJ) my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness(EK) between you and me.”(EL)
51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,(EM) and here is this pillar(EN) I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,(EO) that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap(EP) and pillar to my side to harm me.(EQ) 53 May the God of Abraham(ER) and the God of Nahor,(ES) the God of their father, judge between us.”(ET)
So Jacob took an oath(EU) in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.(EV) 54 He offered a sacrifice(EW) there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal.(EX) After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters(EY) and blessed(EZ) them. Then he left and returned home.[d](FA)
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 [e]Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God(FB) met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!”(FC) So he named that place Mahanaim.[f](FD)
3 Jacob sent messengers(FE) ahead of him to his brother Esau(FF) in the land of Seir,(FG) the country of Edom.(FH) 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord(FI) Esau: ‘Your servant(FJ) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban(FK) and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.(FL) Now I am sending this message to my lord,(FM) that I may find favor in your eyes.(FN)’”
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”(FO)
7 In great fear(FP) and distress(FQ) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[g](FR) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,[h] the group[i] that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,(FS) God of my father Isaac,(FT) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’(FU) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness(FV) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff(FW) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.(FX) 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid(FY) he will come and attack me,(FZ) and also the mothers with their children.(GA) 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand(GB) of the sea, which cannot be counted.(GC)’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift(GD) for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,(GE) 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.(GF) 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”(GG)
17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant(GH) Jacob. They are a gift(GI) sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant(GJ) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts(GK) I am sending on ahead;(GL) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”(GM) 21 So Jacob’s gifts(GN) went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Footnotes
- Genesis 31:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 31:47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap.
- Genesis 31:49 Mizpah means watchtower.
- Genesis 31:55 In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.
- Genesis 32:1 In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33.
- Genesis 32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.
- Genesis 32:7 Or camps
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
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