31Genesis 31

Jacob Runs from Laban

1Jacob heard that Laban's sons were complaining, “Jacob is now a rich man, and he got everything he owns from our father.”Select Genesis 31:1

2Jacob also noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before.Select Genesis 31:2

3One day the Lord said, “Jacob, go back to your relatives in the land of your ancestors, and I will be with you.”Select Genesis 31:3

4Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to meet him in the pasture where he kept his sheep,Select Genesis 31:4

5and he told them: Your father isn't as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God my ancestors worshiped has been on my side.Select Genesis 31:5

6You know that I have worked hard for your fatherSelect Genesis 31:6

7and that he keeps cheating me by changing my wages time after time. But God has protected me.Select Genesis 31:7

8When your father said the speckled sheep would be my wages, all of them were speckled. And when he said the spotted ones would be mine, all of them were spotted.Select Genesis 31:8

9That's how God has taken sheep and goats from your father and given them to me.Select Genesis 31:9

10Once, when the flocks were mating, I dreamed that all the rams were either spotted or speckled.Select Genesis 31:10

11Then God's angel called me by name. I answered,Select Genesis 31:11

12and he said, “Notice that all the rams are either spotted or speckled. I know everything Laban is doing to you,Select Genesis 31:12

13and I am the God you worshiped at Bethel, when you poured olive oil on a rock and made a promise to me. Leave here at once and return to the land where you were born.”Select Genesis 31:13

14Rachel and Leah said to Jacob: There's nothing left for us to inherit from our father.Select Genesis 31:14

15He treats us like foreigners and has even cheated us out of the bride price that should have been ours.Select Genesis 31:15

16So do whatever God tells you to do. Even the property God took from our father and gave to you really belongs to us and our children.Select Genesis 31:16

17Then Jacob, his wives, and his children got on camels and leftSelect Genesis 31:17

18northern Syria for the home of his father Isaac in Canaan. Jacob took along all his flocks, herds, and other property.Select Genesis 31:18

19Before Rachel left, she stole the household idols while Laban was out shearing his sheep.Select Genesis 31:19

20Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean by not saying that he intended to leave.Select Genesis 31:20

21When Jacob crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead, he took with him everything he owned.Select Genesis 31:21

Laban Catches Up with Jacob

22Three days later Laban found out that Jacob had gone.Select Genesis 31:22

23So he took some of his relatives along and chased after Jacob for seven days, before catching up with him in the hill country of Gilead.Select Genesis 31:23

24But God appeared to Laban in a dream that night and warned, “Don't say a word to Jacob. Don't make a threat or a promise.”Select Genesis 31:24

25Jacob had set up camp in the hill country of Gilead, when Laban and his relatives came and set up camp in another part of the hill country. Laban went to JacobSelect Genesis 31:25

26and said: Look what you've done! You've tricked me and run off with my daughters like a kidnapper.Select Genesis 31:26

27Why did you sneak away without telling me? I would have given you a going-away party with singing and with music on tambourines and harps.Select Genesis 31:27

28You didn't even give me a chance to kiss my own grandchildren and daughters goodbye. That was really foolish.Select Genesis 31:28

29I could easily hurt you, but the God your father worshiped has warned me not to make any threats or promises.Select Genesis 31:29

30I can understand why you were eager to return to your father, but why did you have to steal my idols?Select Genesis 31:30

31Jacob answered, “I left secretly because I was afraid you would take your daughters from me by force.Select Genesis 31:31

32If you find that any one of us has taken your idols, I'll have that person killed. Let your relatives be witnesses. Show me what belongs to you, and you can take it back.” Jacob did not realize that Rachel had stolen the household idols.Select Genesis 31:32

33Laban searched the tents of Jacob, Leah, and the two servant women, but did not find the idols. Then he went to Rachel's tent.Select Genesis 31:33

34She had already hidden them in the cushion she used as a saddle and was sitting on it. Laban searched everywhere and did not find them.Select Genesis 31:34

35Rachel said, “Father, please don't be angry with me for not getting up; I'm having my period.” Laban kept on searching, but still did not find the idols.Select Genesis 31:35

36Jacob became very angry and said to Laban: What have I done wrong? Have I committed some crime? Is that why you hunted me down?Select Genesis 31:36

37After searching through everything I have, did you find anything of yours? If so, put it here, where your relatives and mine can see it. Then we can decide what to do.Select Genesis 31:37

38In all the 20 years that I've worked for you, not one of your sheep or goats has had a miscarriage, and I've never eaten even one of your rams.Select Genesis 31:38

39If a wild animal killed one of your sheep or goats, I paid for it myself. In fact, you demanded the full price, whether the animal was killed during the day or at night.Select Genesis 31:39

40I sweated every day, and I couldn't sleep at night because of the cold.Select Genesis 31:40

41I had to work 14 of these 20 long years to earn your two daughters and another 6 years to buy your sheep and goats. During that time you kept changing my wages.Select Genesis 31:41

42If the fearsome God worshiped by Abraham and my father Isaac had not been on my side, you would have sent me away without a thing. But God saw my hard work, and he knew the trouble I was in, so he helped me. Then last night he told you how wrong you were.Select Genesis 31:42

Jacob and Laban Make an Agreement

43Laban said to Jacob, “Leah and Rachel are my daughters, and their children belong to me. All these sheep you are taking are really mine too. In fact, everything you have belongs to me. But there is nothing I can do to keep my daughters and their children.Select Genesis 31:43

44So I am ready to make an agreement with you, and we will pile up some large rocks here to remind us of the agreement.”Select Genesis 31:44

45After Jacob had set up a large rock,Select Genesis 31:45

46he told his men to get some more rocks and pile them up next to it. Then Jacob and Laban ate a meal together beside the rocks.Select Genesis 31:46

47Laban named the pile of rocks Jegar Sahadutha. But Jacob named it Galeed.Select Genesis 31:47

48Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will remind us of our agreement.” That's why the place was named Galeed.Select Genesis 31:48

49Laban also said, “This pile of rocks means that the Lord will watch us both while we are apart from each other.” So the place was also named Mizpah.Select Genesis 31:49

50Then Laban said: If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women, I may not know about it, but remember, God is watching us!Select Genesis 31:50

52Both this pile of rocks and this large rock have been set up between us as a reminder. I must never go past them to attack you, and you must never come past them to attack me.Select Genesis 31:52

53My father Nahor, your grandfather Abraham, and their ancestors all worshiped the same God, and he will make sure that we each keep the agreement. Then Jacob made a promise in the name of the fearsome God his father Isaac had worshiped.Select Genesis 31:53

54Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice there on the mountain, and he invited his men to eat with him. After the meal they spent the night on the mountain.Select Genesis 31:54

55Early the next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and his grandchildren goodbye, then he left to go back home.Select Genesis 31:55