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Genesis 31
Living Bible
Genesis 31
Living Bible
31 But Jacob learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling, “He owes everything he owns to our father. All his wealth is at our father’s expense.” 2 Soon Jacob noticed a considerable cooling in Laban’s attitude toward him.
3 Jehovah now spoke to Jacob and told him, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives there; and I will be with you.”
4 So one day Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field where he was with the flocks, 5 to talk things over with them.
“Your father has turned against me,” he told them, “and now the God of my fathers has come and spoken to me. 6 You know how hard I’ve worked for your father, 7 but he has been completely unscrupulous and has broken his wage contract with me again and again and again. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm! 8 For if he said the speckled animals would be mine, then all the flock produced speckled; and when he changed and said I could have the streaked ones, then all the lambs were streaked! 9 In this way God has made me wealthy at your father’s expense.
10 “And at the mating season, I had a dream, and saw that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and mottled. 11 Then, in my dream, the Angel of God called to me 12 and told me that I should mate the white female goats with streaked, speckled, and mottled male goats.[a] ‘For I have seen all that Laban has done to you,’ the Angel said. 13 ‘I am the God you met at Bethel,’ he continued, ‘the place where you anointed the pillar and made a vow to serve me. Now leave this country and return to the land of your birth.’”
14 Rachel and Leah replied, “That’s fine with us! There’s nothing for us here—none of our father’s wealth will come to us anyway! 15 He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women; he sold us, and what he received for us has disappeared. 16 The riches God has given you from our father were legally ours and our children’s to begin with! So go ahead and do whatever God has told you to.”
17-20 So one day while Laban was out shearing sheep, Jacob set his wives and sons on camels, and fled without telling Laban his intentions. He drove the flocks before him—Jacob’s flocks he had gotten there at Paddan-aram—and took everything he owned and started out to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 21 So he fled with all of his possessions (and Rachel stole her father’s household gods and took them with her) and crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the territory of Gilead.
22 Laban didn’t learn of their flight for three days. 23 Then, taking several men with him, he set out in hot pursuit and caught up with them seven days later, at Mount Gilead. 24 That night God appeared to Laban in a dream.
“Watch out what you say to Jacob,” he was told. “Don’t give him your blessing and don’t curse him.” 25 Laban finally caught up with Jacob as he was camped at the top of a ridge; Laban, meanwhile, camped below him in the mountains.
26 “What do you mean by sneaking off like this?” Laban demanded. “Are my daughters prisoners, captured in a battle, that you have rushed them away like this? 27 Why didn’t you give me a chance to have a farewell party, with singing and orchestra and harp? 28 Why didn’t you let me kiss my grandchildren and tell them good-bye? This is a strange way to act. 29 I could crush you, but the God of your father appeared to me last night and told me, ‘Be careful not to be too hard on Jacob!’ 30 But see here—though you feel you must go, and long so intensely for your childhood home—why have you stolen my idols?”
31 “I sneaked away because I was afraid,” Jacob answered. “I said to myself, ‘He’ll take his daughters from me by force.’ 32 But as for your household idols, a curse upon anyone who took them. Let him die! If you find a single thing we’ve stolen from you, I swear before all these men, I’ll give it back without question.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had taken them.
33 Laban went first into Jacob’s tent to search there, then into Leah’s, and then searched the two tents of the concubines, but didn’t find them. Finally he went into Rachel’s tent. 34 Rachel, remember, was the one who had stolen the idols; she had stuffed them into her camel saddle and now was sitting on them! So although Laban searched the tents thoroughly, he didn’t find them.
35 “Forgive my not getting up, Father,” Rachel explained, “but I’m having my monthly period.”[b] So Laban didn’t find them.
36-37 Now Jacob got mad. “What did you find?” he demanded of Laban. “What is my crime? You have come rushing after me as though you were chasing a criminal and have searched through everything. Now put everything I stole out here in front of us, before your men and mine, for all to see and to decide whose it is! 38 Twenty years I’ve been with you, and all that time I cared for your ewes and goats so that they produced healthy offspring, and I never touched one ram of yours for food. 39 If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, did I show them to you and ask you to reduce the count of your flock? No, I took the loss. You made me pay for every animal stolen from the flocks, whether I could help it or not.[c] 40 I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day, and through the cold and sleepless nights. 41 Yes, twenty years—fourteen of them earning your two daughters, and six years to get the flock! And you have reduced my wages ten times! 42 In fact, except for the grace of God—the God of my grandfather Abraham, even the glorious God of Isaac, my father—you would have sent me off without a penny to my name. But God has seen your cruelty and my hard work, and that is why he appeared to you last night.”
43 Laban replied, “These women are my daughters, and these children are mine, and these flocks and all that you have—all are mine. So how could I harm my own daughters and grandchildren? 44 Come now and we will sign a peace pact, you and I, and will live by its terms.”
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument, 46 and told his men to gather stones and make a heap, and Jacob and Laban ate together beside the pile of rocks. 47-48 They named it “The Witness Pile”—“Jegar-sahadutha,” in Laban’s language, and “Galeed” in Jacob’s.
“This pile of stones will stand as a witness against us if either of us trespasses across this line,[d]” Laban said. 49 So it was also called “The Watchtower” (Mizpah). For Laban said, “May the Lord see to it that we keep this bargain when we are out of each other’s sight. 50 And if you are harsh to my daughters, or take other wives, I won’t know, but God will see it. 51-52 This heap,” Laban continued, “stands between us as a witness of our vows that I will not cross this line to attack you and you will not cross it to attack me. 53 I call upon the God of Abraham and Nahor, and of their father, to destroy either one of us who does.”
So Jacob took oath before the mighty God of his father, Isaac, to respect the boundary line. 54 Then Jacob presented a sacrifice to God there at the top of the mountain, and invited his companions to a feast, and afterwards spent the night with them on the mountain. 55 Laban was up early the next morning and kissed his daughters and grandchildren, and blessed them, and returned home.
Footnotes
- Genesis 31:12 and told me that I should mate the white female goats with streaked, speckled, and mottled male goats, implied; literally, “notice that all the mating males are speckled, streaked, and mottled.”
- Genesis 31:35 but I’m having my monthly period, implied; literally, “The manner of women is upon me.” She was pregnant with Benjamin, but was falsely claiming her menstrual period, which, under the later Mosaic law, caused ceremonial defilement of all that she sat upon. See Leviticus 15.
- Genesis 31:39 stolen . . . whether I could help it or not, literally, “stolen by day or by night.”
- Genesis 31:47 if either of us trespasses across this line, implied.
Genesis 31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Genesis 31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jacob Flees with Family and Flocks
31 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”(A) 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.(B) 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me.(C) 8 If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled, and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.(D) 9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
10 “During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’(E) 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’ ”(F) 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house?(G) 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. 16 All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”
17 So Jacob arose and set his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.(H) 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates[a] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.(I)
Laban Overtakes Jacob
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.(J) 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”(K)
25 Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword.(L) 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.(M) 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish. 29 It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’(N) 30 Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?”(O) 31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.[b](P)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.(Q)
36 Then Jacob became angry and upbraided Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsfolk and your kinsfolk, so that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.(R) 40 It was like this with me: by day the heat consumed me and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.(S) 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear[c] of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”(T)
Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant
43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or about their children whom they have borne? 44 Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”(U) 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.(V) 46 And Jacob said to his kinsfolk, “Gather stones,” and they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,[d] but Jacob called it Galeed.[e] 48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he called it Galeed(W) 49 and the pillar[f] Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other.(X) 50 If you ill-treat my daughters or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me.”
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and see the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the 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. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor[g] judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac,(Y) 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread, and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.
55 [h]Early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.(Z)
Genesis 31
New International Version
Genesis 31
New International Version
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. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock(O) and has given them to me.(P)
10 “In breeding season I once had a dream(Q) 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(R) said to me in the dream,(S) ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’(T) 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted,(U) for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.(V) 13 I am the God of Bethel,(W) where you anointed a pillar(X) and where you made a vow(Y) to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.(Z)’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share(AA) in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners?(AB) Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.(AC) 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.(AD) So do whatever God has told you.”
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives(AE) on camels,(AF) 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated(AG) in Paddan Aram,[a](AH) to go to his father Isaac(AI) in the land of Canaan.(AJ)
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep,(AK) Rachel stole her father’s household gods.(AL) 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived(AM) Laban the Aramean(AN) by not telling him he was running away.(AO) 21 So he fled(AP) with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River,(AQ) and headed for the hill country of Gilead.(AR)
Laban Pursues Jacob
22 On the third day(AS) Laban was told that Jacob had fled.(AT) 23 Taking his relatives(AU) with him(AV), he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.(AW) 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean(AX) in a dream at night and said to him,(AY) “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”(AZ)
25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead(BA) when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done?(BB) You’ve deceived me,(BC) and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.(BD) 27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me,(BE) so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels(BF) and harps?(BG) 28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye.(BH) You have done a foolish thing. 29 I have the power to harm you;(BI) but last night the God of your father(BJ) said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’(BK) 30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household.(BL) But why did you steal(BM) my gods?(BN)”
31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.(BO) 32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live.(BP) 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.(BQ)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent(BR) and into the tent of the two female servants,(BS) but he found nothing.(BT) After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods(BU) and put them inside her camel’s saddle(BV) and was sitting on them. Laban searched(BW) 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;(BX) I’m having my period.(BY)” So he searched but could not find the household gods.(BZ)
36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged(CA) you that you hunt me down?(CB) 37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household?(CC) Put it here in front of your relatives(CD) and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.(CE)
38 “I have been with you for twenty years now.(CF) Your sheep and goats have not miscarried,(CG) 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(CH) by day or night.(CI) 40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.(CJ) 41 It was like this for the twenty years(CK) I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters(CL) and six years for your flocks,(CM) and you changed my wages(CN) ten times.(CO) 42 If the God of my father,(CP) the God of Abraham(CQ) and the Fear of Isaac,(CR) had not been with me,(CS) you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,(CT) and last night he rebuked you.(CU)”
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks.(CV) 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,(CW) you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”(CX)
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.(CY) 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,(CZ) and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.[b](DA)
48 Laban said, “This heap(DB) is a witness between you and me today.”(DC) That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah,[c](DD) because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat(DE) my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness(DF) between you and me.”(DG)
51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,(DH) and here is this pillar(DI) I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,(DJ) that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap(DK) and pillar to my side to harm me.(DL) 53 May the God of Abraham(DM) and the God of Nahor,(DN) the God of their father, judge between us.”(DO)
So Jacob took an oath(DP) in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.(DQ) 54 He offered a sacrifice(DR) there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal.(DS) After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters(DT) and blessed(DU) them. Then he left and returned home.[d](DV)
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.
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