Jacob Decides to Leave Laban

31 Now Jacob^[a] used to listen while Laban’s sons kept on complaining,^[b] “Jacob has taken over everything our father owns! He made himself wealthy from what belongs to our father!” ² Jacob also noticed that the way^[c] Laban had been looking at him wasn’t as nice as it had been just two days earlier.^[d]

³ Then the Lord ordered Jacob, “Go back to your father’s territory and to your relatives. I’ll be with you.”

⁴ Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field where his flock was ⁵ and informed them, “I’ve noticed that the way^[e] your father has been looking at us hasn’t been as nice as it was just two days ago.^[f] But my father’s God has been with me. ⁶ You know I’ve been serving your father with all my heart. ⁷ Even so, your father has cheated me. He broke our wage agreement ten times. However, God didn’t allow him to harm me.

⁸ “When Laban said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flock gave birth to speckled ones. Then when he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ all the flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

⁹ “So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me. ¹⁰ As it was, when it was time for the livestock to breed, I once looked up in a dream, and the male goats that were mating^[g] with the flock were producing streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring.

¹¹ “Later, the angel of God spoke to me in a dream, ‘Jacob.’

“‘Here I am,’ I replied

¹² “‘Look around!’ he said. ‘Go ahead, look! All the male goats have been mating with the flock, producing offspring that are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I’ve been watching everything that Laban has done to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, the place where you consecrated that stone and made a vow to me. Now get up, leave this territory, and return to your native land.’”^[h]

Rachel and Leah Consent to Leave

¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah asked him, “Do we have anything left of inheritance^[i] remaining in our father’s house? ¹⁵ He’s treating us like foreigners. He sold us and spent all of the money^[j] that rightfully belonged to us. ¹⁶ Furthermore, all of the wealth that God has stripped away from our father belongs to us now and to our children. So do everything that God tells you to do.” ¹⁷ So Jacob got up, seated his children and wives on camels, ¹⁸ and drove all his livestock ahead of him, with everything that belonged to him, including the livestock that he had bought and accumulated in Paddan-aram,^[k] intending to deliver them to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Laban Pursues Jacob

¹⁹ Meanwhile, Laban had been out shearing his sheep. While he was away, Rachel stole her father’s personal idols.^{[l] 20} Moreover, Jacob had deceived^[m] Laban the Aramean,^[n] because he had never told him that he was intending to leave. ²¹ Jacob fled, taking everything that he owned. He got up, crossed the river,^[o] and headed to the hill country of Gilead.