Genesis 31
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 31
Jacob Flees from Laban.[a] 1 Jacob came to know what the sons of Laban were saying: “Jacob is taking what belonged to our father, and he has gotten all his wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed.
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, to your homeland, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah who were in the fields with the flocks 5 and he told them, “I see that your father’s attitude to me is not like it was before. Still, the God of my father is with me. 6 You yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 while your father has cheated and changed my salary ten times. But God did not let him harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your salary,’ then all the animals born were speckled. If he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your salary,’ then all the animals born were streaked. 9 Thus, God took back your father’s animals and gave them to me.
10 “Once, when the animals were in heat, I had a dream. I looked out and saw that the he-goats that were streaked, speckled, and mottled were ready to breed. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He continued, ‘Look up and see: all the goats that are ready to breed are streaked, speckled, and mottled because I saw what Laban has done to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made an oath to me. Now, rise, leave this country, and return to your homeland.’ ”
14 Rachel and Leah answered, “Do we still have property or an inheritance in the house of our father? 15 Are we not considered to be outsiders by him? He sold us and then used up our money. 16 All those things that God has taken from our father belong to us and to our children. Do what God has told you to do.”
17 Jacob got up, placed his children and his wives on camels, 18 and led all the animals away. He took all his possessions with him, including the animals that he acquired in Paddan-aram, in order to return to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan.
19 When Laban had gone to shear the sheep, Rachel stole the household idols[b] that belonged to her father. 20 Jacob sneaked away from Laban the Aramean, not letting him know that he was about to flee. 21 This way he was able to go with all his possessions. He rose, crossed the river,[c] and traveled toward the mountains of Gilead.
22 Laban Pursues Jacob.[d] On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 He took his kinsmen with him and followed him for seven days. He caught up to him in the mountains of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to do anything to Jacob, not a thing!”
25 Laban therefore went and caught up to Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tents in the mountains, and Laban and his kinsmen were also camped in the mountains of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You sneaked away and carried off my daughters as if they were prisoners of war! 27 Why did you secretly flee away and cheat me? Why did you not let me know? I would have given you a celebration with songs and the music of the tambourines and the harp. 28 You did not let me kiss my grandsons and my daughters. This was surely a foolish thing that you have done. 29 Realize that I could harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night. He forbade me to do anything to Jacob, not a thing. 30 I realize that you left because you were homesick for the house of your father, but why have you robbed my household idols?”
31 Jacob answered Laban and said, “I was afraid, and I thought that you would take your daughters back with force. 32 But as for whoever you find has taken your household idols, he will be put to death. With our relatives looking on, see if you can find anything belonging to you and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had robbed them.
33 Laban entered Jacob’s tent and then the tent of Leah and the tent of the two slaves, but he did not find anything. Then he went out from Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the idols and had placed them under a camel’s saddle and had then sat upon it. Laban searched throughout the whole tent and did not find them.
35 She said to her father, “Please do not be offended, my lord, if I cannot rise in your presence, but I am having my monthly time.”[e] Laban therefore searched in the entire tent and did not find the idols.
36 Jacob was angry now and scolded Laban saying, “What crime have I committed, what sin did I do that you followed me? 37 Now that you have searched all my possessions, what have you found that belongs to you? Place it before me and your relatives and let it serve as evidence for or against me.
38 “I spent twenty years with you. None of your sheep or goats ever miscarried. I never ate any of the rams of your flock. 39 I never brought you an animal that had been injured by a wild beast. I made good for the loss myself. You held me responsible for whatever was robbed during the day and for whatever was robbed during the night. 40 By day I was burnt by the sun and by night I suffered from the cold, and I spent many sleepless nights. 41 Twenty years I was with you. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my salary ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Terror of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing. But God saw my affliction and the work of my hands, and last night he was my judge.”
43 Laban then answered Jacob and said, “These daughters are my daughters and these grandsons are my grandsons. These cattle are my cattle, and all you see is mine. What could I do to you today and to these daughters and to the children whom they have brought into the world? 44 Come, let us make a covenant between me and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.”
45 Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar. 46 Then he said to his relatives, “Collect some stones,” and they took stones and made a mound out of them. They then ate sitting upon the mound. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, while Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Laban said, “Let this mound be today a witness between me and you.” Because of this he called it Galeed 49 and also Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between me and you when we will no longer see each other.[f] 50 If you mistreat my daughters and take other wives besides my daughters, be warned that God will be a judge between you and me.”
51 Laban continued and said to Jacob, “Behold this mound and this pillar that I have erected between me and you. 52 Let this mound be a witness, and this pillar be a witness, that I will not cross over past this mound to do you harm and that you will not cross over past this mound and this pillar to do me harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor be a judge between us.”
Jacob swore an oath by the name of the Terror of his father Isaac. 54 Then he offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat with him. They ate and spent the night on the mountain.
Footnotes
- Genesis 31:1 Stemming from a different source, this account endeavors to show that Jacob is right in his quarrels with Laban; God himself has made him prosper. Overflowing with riches, Jacob judges it more prudent to put an end to their deteriorating relations, after having rallied his wives to his cause.
- Genesis 31:19 Household idols (Hebrew, teraphim) were small statues of divinities worshiped by the family (see v. 30). They belonged by right to the principal heir.
- Genesis 31:21 The river was the Euphrates. Gilead is the mountainous region east of the Jordan.
- Genesis 31:22 The greedy uncle pursues Jacob in anger, but Rachel saves the situation through guile and Jacob takes offense at Laban’s bad faith. The latter finally resigns himself to deal with Jacob, and an agreement is concluded concerning the relations and the pasture rights between Aram and Israel in the Transjordan. Thus, an account, which is not lacking in humor, justifies once again the rightness of Jacob—and of Israel.
- Genesis 31:35 I am having my monthly time: in later times, anything a menstruating woman sat on was considered ritually unclean (Lev 15:20). Rachel, too, had become a deceiver.
- Genesis 31:49 May . . . other: the so-called Mizpah benediction, which in context is in fact a denunciation or curse.
创世记 31
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
雅各思归故土
31 雅各听见拉班的儿子们有话说:“雅各把我们父亲所有的都夺了去,并借着我们父亲的,得了这一切的荣耀[a]。” 2 雅各见拉班的气色向他不如从前了。 3 耶和华对雅各说:“你要回你祖你父之地,到你亲族那里去,我必与你同在。” 4 雅各就打发人,叫拉结和利亚到田野羊群那里来, 5 对她们说:“我看你们父亲的气色向我不如从前了,但我父亲的神向来与我同在。 6 你们也知道,我尽了我的力量服侍你们的父亲。 7 你们的父亲欺哄我,十次改了我的工价,然而神不容他害我。 8 他若说有点的归你做工价,羊群所生的都有点;他若说有纹的归你做工价,羊群所生的都有纹。 9 这样,神把你们父亲的牲畜夺来赐给我了。 10 羊配合的时候,我梦中举目一看,见跳母羊的公羊都是有纹的、有点的、有花斑的。 11 神的使者在那梦中呼叫我说:‘雅各!’我说:‘我在这里。’ 12 他说:‘你举目观看,跳母羊的公羊都是有纹的、有点的、有花斑的,凡拉班向你所做的,我都看见了。 13 我是伯特利的神,你在那里用油浇过柱子,向我许过愿。现今你起来,离开这地,回你本地去吧。’” 14 拉结和利亚回答雅各说:“在我们父亲的家里还有我们可得的份吗?还有我们的产业吗? 15 我们不是被他当做外人吗?因为他卖了我们,吞了我们的价值。 16 神从我们父亲所夺出来的一切财物,那就是我们和我们孩子们的。现今凡神所吩咐你的,你只管去行吧。”
雅各背逃
17 雅各起来,使他的儿子和妻子都骑上骆驼, 18 又带着他在巴旦亚兰所得的一切牲畜和财物,往迦南地他父亲以撒那里去了。 19 当时拉班剪羊毛去了,拉结偷了他父亲家中的神像。 20 雅各背着亚兰人拉班偷走了,并不告诉他, 21 就带着所有的逃跑。他起身过大河,面向基列山行去。
拉班追之
22 到第三日,有人告诉拉班:“雅各逃跑了。” 23 拉班带领他的众弟兄去追赶,追了七日,在基列山就追上了。 24 夜间,神到亚兰人拉班那里,在梦中对他说:“你要小心,不可与雅各说好说歹。” 25 拉班追上雅各。雅各在山上支搭帐篷,拉班和他的众弟兄也在基列山上支搭帐篷。 26 拉班对雅各说:“你做的是什么事呢?你背着我偷走了,又把我的女儿们带了去,如同用刀剑掳去的一般。 27 你为什么暗暗地逃跑,偷着走,并不告诉我,叫我可以欢乐、唱歌、击鼓、弹琴地送你回去? 28 又不容我与外孙和女儿亲嘴。你所行的真是愚昧! 29 我手中原有能力害你,只是你父亲的神昨夜对我说:‘你要小心,不可与雅各说好说歹。’
拉班责雅各窃其神像
30 现在你虽然想你父家,不得不去,为什么又偷了我的神像呢?” 31 雅各回答拉班说:“恐怕你把你的女儿从我夺去,所以我逃跑。 32 至于你的神像,你在谁那里搜出来,就不容谁存活。当着我们的众弟兄,你认一认,在我这里有什么东西是你的,就拿去。”原来雅各不知道拉结偷了那些神像。
33 拉班进了雅各、利亚并两个使女的帐篷,都没有搜出来,就从利亚的帐篷出来,进了拉结的帐篷。 34 拉结已经把神像藏在骆驼的驮篓里,便坐在上头。拉班摸遍了那帐篷,并没有摸着。 35 拉结对她父亲说:“现在我身上不便,不能在你面前起来,求我主不要生气。”这样,拉班搜寻神像,竟没有搜出来。
雅各斥责拉班
36 雅各就发怒斥责拉班说:“我有什么过犯,有什么罪恶,你竟这样火速地追我! 37 你摸遍了我一切的家具,你搜出什么来呢?可以放在你我弟兄面前,叫他们在你我中间辨别辨别! 38 我在你家这二十年,你的母绵羊、母山羊没有掉过胎。你群中的公羊,我没有吃过。 39 被野兽撕裂的,我没有带来给你,是我自己赔上。无论是白日,是黑夜,被偷去的,你都向我索要。 40 我白日受尽干热,黑夜受尽寒霜,不得合眼睡着,我常是这样。 41 我这二十年在你家里,为你的两个女儿服侍你十四年,为你的羊群服侍你六年,你又十次改了我的工价。 42 若不是我父亲以撒所敬畏的神,就是亚伯拉罕的神与我同在,你如今必定打发我空手而去。神看见我的苦情和我的劳碌,就在昨夜责备你。”
二人立约
43 拉班回答雅各说:“这女儿是我的女儿,这些孩子是我的孩子,这些羊群也是我的羊群,凡在你眼前的都是我的。我的女儿并她们所生的孩子,我今日能向他们做什么呢? 44 来吧,你我二人可以立约,做你我中间的证据。” 45 雅各就拿一块石头立做柱子, 46 又对众弟兄说:“你们堆聚石头。”他们就拿石头来堆成一堆,大家便在旁边吃喝。 47 拉班称那石堆为伊迦尔撒哈杜他,雅各却称那石堆为迦累得[b]。 48 拉班说:“今日这石堆做你我中间的证据。”因此这地方名叫迦累得, 49 又叫米斯巴,意思说:“我们彼此离别以后,愿耶和华在你我中间鉴察。 50 你若苦待我的女儿,又在我的女儿以外另娶妻,虽没有人知道,却有神在你我中间做见证。” 51 拉班又说:“你看我在你我中间所立的这石堆和柱子。 52 这石堆做证据,这柱子也做证据。我必不过这石堆去害你,你也不可过这石堆和柱子来害我。 53 但愿亚伯拉罕的神和拿鹤的神,就是他们父亲的神,在你我中间判断。”雅各就指着他父亲以撒所敬畏的神起誓, 54 又在山上献祭,请众弟兄来吃饭。他们吃了饭,便在山上住宿。 55 拉班清早起来,与他外孙和女儿亲嘴,给他们祝福,回往自己的地方去了。
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