⁴³ But Laban answered Jacob, “These women are my daughters. These children are my children. The flocks are mine. In fact, everything that you see belongs to me. But what would I do today to my daughters and the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come, let’s make a covenant just between you and me. And let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and raised it as a pillar. ⁴⁶ Then Jacob told his relatives, “Go gather some stones.” So they picked up stones and stacked them one on top of the other. Then they had a meal together there by the stack of stones. ⁴⁷ Laban named the place Jegar-sahadutha,^[a] but Jacob named it Galeed.^[b]

⁴⁸ Then Laban said, “This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today.” That’s how the place came to be named Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah,^[c] because Laban^[d] said, “May the Lord watch between you and me, when we are estranged^[e] from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you take other wives besides them, though no one is watching^[f] us, keep in mind that God stands as a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ “Look!” Laban added, “Here is the stack of stones and here is the pillar that I’ve set up between you and me. ⁵² This stack is a witness, and so is this pillar, reminding me not to cross beyond this stack of stones, and reminding you not to pass by this stack in my direction, intending to cause harm. ⁵³ May Abraham’s God and Nahor’s god judge between us.”

So Jacob made an oath by his father’s Fear,^{[g] 54} offered sacrifices there on the mountain, and called on his relatives to eat some food. So they ate the food and spent the night on the mountain. ^55 [h]Early the next morning, Laban woke up, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, blessed them, and then left for home.^[i]