Genesis 31

Jacob Flees from Laban

1Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this #Ps. 49:16wealth.” 2And Jacob saw the #Gen. 4:5countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not #Deut. 28:54favorable toward him as before. 3Then the Lord said to Jacob, #Gen. 28:15, 20, 21; 32:9“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will #Gen. 46:4be with you.”

4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5and said to them, #Gen. 31:2, 3“I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father #Gen. 21:22; 28:13, 15; 31:29, 42, 53; Is. 41:10; Heb. 13:5has been with me. 6And #Gen. 30:29; 31:38–41you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7Yet your father has deceived me and #Gen. 29:25; 31:41changed my wages #Num. 14:22; Neh. 4:12; Job 19:3; Zech. 8:23ten times, but God #Gen. 15:1; 20:6; 31:29; Job 1:10; Ps. 37:28; 105:14did not allow him to hurt me. 8If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: #Gen. 30:32‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. 9So God has #Gen. 31:1, 16taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. 11Then #Gen. 16:7–11; 22:11, 15; 31:13; 48:16the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for #Gen. 31:42; Ex. 3:7; Ps. 139:3; Eccl. 5:8I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, #Gen. 28:16–22; 35:1, 6, 15where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now #Gen. 31:3; 32:9arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

14Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, #Gen. 2:24“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15Are we not considered strangers by him? For #Gen. 29:15, 20, 23, 27; Neh. 5:8he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. 16For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

17Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of #Gen. 17:8; 33:18; 35:27Canaan. 19Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the #Gen. 31:30, 34; 35:2; Judg. 17:5; 1 Sam. 19:13; Hos. 3:4household idols that were her father’s. 20And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and #Gen. 46:28; 2 Kin. 12:17; Luke 9:51, 53headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23Then he took #Gen. 13:8his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. 24But God #Gen. 20:3; 31:29; 46:2–4; Job 33:15; Matt. 1:20had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you #Gen. 24:50; 31:7, 29speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”

25So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.

26And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and #1 Sam. 30:2carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? 27Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28And you did not allow me #Gen. 31:55; Ruth 1:9, 14; 1 Kin. 19:20; Acts 20:37to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now #1 Sam. 13:13you have done foolishly in so doing. 29It is in my power to do you harm, but the #Gen. 28:13; 31:5, 24, 42, 53God of your father spoke to me #Gen. 31:24last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you #Gen. 31:19; Josh. 24:2; Judg. 17:5; 18:24steal my gods?”

31Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was #Gen. 26:7; 32:7, 11afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ 32With whomever you find your gods, #Gen. 44:9do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. 35And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot #Ex. 20:12; Lev. 19:32rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.

36Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? 37Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! 38These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39#Ex. 22:10That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. #Ex. 22:10–13You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. 41Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I #Gen. 29:20, 27–30served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and #Gen. 31:7you have changed my wages ten times. 42#Gen. 31:5, 29, 53; Ps. 124:1, 2Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and #Gen. 31:53; Is. 8:13the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. #Gen. 29:32; Ex. 3:7God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and #Gen. 31:24, 29; 1 Chr. 12:17rebuked you last night.”

Laban’s Covenant with Jacob

43And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? 44Now therefore, come, #Gen. 21:27, 32; 26:28let us make a covenant, #Josh. 24:27you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”

45So Jacob #Gen. 28:18; 35:14; Josh. 24:26, 27took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48And Laban said, #Josh. 24:27“This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, 49also #Judg. 10:17; 11:29; 1 Sam. 7:5, 6Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. 50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”

51Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. 52This heap is a witness, and this 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. 53The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father #Gen. 16:5judge between us.” And Jacob #Gen. 21:23swore by #Gen. 31:42the Fear of his father Isaac. 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. 55And early in the morning Laban arose, and #Gen. 29:11, 13; 31:28, 43kissed his sons and daughters and #Gen. 28:1blessed them. Then Laban departed and #Gen. 18:33; 30:25; Num. 24:25returned to his place.

Genesis 31

Time to Leave—Jacob Runs Away

1One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking. They said, “Jacob has taken everything that our father owned. He has become rich—and he has taken all this wealth from our father.” 2Then Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been in the past. 3The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to your own land where your ancestors lived. I will be with you.”

4So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks of sheep and goats. 5He said to them, “I have noticed that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be. But the God of my father has been with me. 6You both know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father. 7But he cheated me. He has changed my pay ten times. But during all this time, God protected me from all of Laban’s tricks.

8“At one time Laban said, ‘You can keep all the goats with spots. This will be your pay.’ After he said this, all the animals gave birth to spotted goats, so they were all mine. But then Laban said, ‘I will keep the spotted goats. You can have all the striped goats. That will be your pay.’ After he said this, all the animals gave birth to striped goats. 9So God has taken the animals away from your father and has given them to me.

10“I had a dream during the time when the animals were mating. I saw that the only male goats that were mating were the ones with stripes and spots. 11The angel of God spoke to me in that dream. The angel said, ‘Jacob!’

“I answered, ‘Yes!’

12“The angel said, ‘Look, only the striped and spotted goats are mating. I am causing this to happen. I have seen all the wrong things Laban has been doing to you. I am doing this so that you can have all the new baby goats. 13I am the God who came to you at Bethel, and there you made an altar, poured olive oil on it, and made a promise to me. Now I want you to be ready to go back to the country where you were born.’”

14Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “Our father has nothing to give us when he dies. 15He treated us like strangers. He sold us to you, and then he spent all the money that should have been ours. 16God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So you should do whatever God told you to do.”

17So Jacob prepared for the trip. He put his children and his wives on camels. 18Then they began traveling back to the land of Canaan, where his father lived. All the flocks of animals that Jacob owned walked ahead of them. He carried everything with him that he had gotten while he lived in Paddan Aram.

19While Laban was gone to cut the wool from his sheep, Rachel went into his house and stole the false gods that belonged to her father.

20Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean. He did not tell Laban he was leaving. 21Jacob took his family and everything he owned and left quickly. They crossed the Euphrates River and traveled toward the hill country of Gilead.

22Three days later Laban learned that Jacob had run away. 23So he gathered his men together and began to chase Jacob. After seven days Laban found Jacob near the hill country of Gilead. 24That night God came to Laban in a dream and said, “Be careful! Be careful of every word you say to Jacob.”

The Search for the Stolen Gods

25The next morning Laban caught up with Jacob. Jacob had set up his camp on the mountain, so Laban and all his men set up their camp in the hill country of Gilead.

26Laban said to Jacob, “Why did you trick me? Why did you take my daughters like they were women you captured during war? 27Why did you run away without telling me? If you had told me, I would have given you a party. There would have been singing and dancing with music. 28You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You were very foolish to do this! 29I have the power to really hurt you. But last night the God of your father came to me in a dream. He warned me not to hurt you in any way. 30I know that you want to go back to your home. That is why you left. But why did you steal the gods from my house?”

31Jacob answered, “I left without telling you, because I was afraid. I thought you would take your daughters away from me. 32But I did not steal your gods. If you find anyone here with me who has taken your gods, they will be killed. Your men will be my witnesses. You can look for anything that belongs to you. Take anything that is yours.” (Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban’s gods.)

33So Laban went and looked through Jacob’s camp. He looked in Jacob’s tent and then in Leah’s tent. Then he looked in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find the gods from his house. Then he went into Rachel’s tent. 34Rachel had hidden the gods inside her camel’s saddle, and she was sitting on them. Laban looked through the whole tent, but he did not find the gods.

35And Rachel said to her father, “Father, don’t be angry with me. I am not able to stand up before you. I am having my monthly time of bleeding.” So Laban looked through the camp, but he did not find the gods from his house.

36Then Jacob became very angry and said, “What wrong have I done? What law have I broken? What right do you have to chase me and stop me? 37You looked through everything I own and found nothing that belongs to you. If you found something, show it to me. Put it here where our men can see it. Let our men decide which one of us is right. 38I have worked 20 years for you. During all that time none of the baby sheep and goats died during birth. And I have not eaten any of the rams from your flocks. 39Any time a sheep was killed by wild animals, I always paid for the loss myself. I did not take the dead animal to you and say that it was not my fault. But I was robbed day and night. 40In the daytime the sun took away my strength, and at night sleep was taken from my eyes by the cold. 41I worked 20 years like a slave for you. For the first 14 years I worked to win your two daughters. The last six years I worked to earn your animals. And during that time you changed my pay ten times. 42But the God of my ancestors, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,#31:42 Fear of Isaac A name for God. was with me. If God had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing. But he saw the trouble that I had and the work that I did, and last night God proved that I am right.”

Jacob and Laban’s Treaty

43Laban said to Jacob, “These women are my daughters. These children belong to me, and these animals are mine. Everything you see here belongs to me, but I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children. 44So I am ready to make an agreement with you. We will set up a pile of stones to show that we have an agreement.”

45So Jacob found a large rock and put it there to show that he had made an agreement. 46He told his men to find some more rocks and to make a pile of rocks. Then they ate beside the pile of rocks. 47Laban named that place Yegar Sahadutha.#31:47 Yegar Sahadutha Aramaic words meaning “rock pile of the agreement.” But Jacob named that place Galeed.#31:47 Galeed Another name for Gilead. This Hebrew name means “rock pile of the agreement.”

48Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will help us both remember our agreement.” That is why Jacob called the place Galeed.

49Then Laban said, “Let the Lord watch over us while we are separated from each other.” So that place was also named Mizpah.#31:49 Mizpah This means “a place to watch from.”

50Then Laban said, “If you hurt my daughters, remember that God will punish you. If you marry other women, remember that God is watching. 51Here are the rocks that I have put between us, and here is the special rock to show that we made an agreement. 52This pile of rocks and this one special rock both help us to remember our agreement. I will never go past these rocks to fight against you, and you must never go on my side of these rocks to fight against me. 53May the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their ancestors judge us guilty if we break this agreement.”

Jacob’s father, Isaac, called God “Fear.” So Jacob used that name to make the promise. 54Then Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice on the mountain. And he invited his men to come and share a meal. After they finished eating, they spent the night on the mountain. 55Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye. He blessed them and went back home.

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Genesis 31

Genesis 31