Jacob Flees from Laban

1And he heareth the words of Laban’s sons, saying, ‘Jacob hath taken all that our father hath; yea, from that which our father hath, he hath made all this honour;’ 2and Jacob seeth the face of Laban, and lo, it is not with him as heretofore. 3And Jehovah saith unto Jacob, ‘Turn back unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I am with thee.’ 4And Jacob sendeth and calleth for Rachel and for Leah to the field unto his flock; 5and saith to them, ‘I am beholding your father’s face — that it is not towards me as heretofore, and the God of my father hath been with me, 6and ye — ye have known that with all my power I have served your father, 7and your father hath played upon me, and hath changed my hire ten times; and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me. 8‘If he say thus: The speckled are thy hire, then bare all the flock speckled ones; and if he say thus: The ring-straked are thy hire, then bare all the flock ring-straked; 9and God taketh away the substance of your father, and doth give to me. 10‘And it cometh to pass at the time of the flock conceiving, that I lift up mine eyes and see in a dream, and lo, the he-goats, which are going up on the flock, [are] ring-straked, speckled, and grisled; 11and the messenger of God saith unto me in the dream, Jacob, and I say, Here [am] I. 12‘And He saith, Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see — all the he-goats which are going up on the flock [are] ring-straked, speckled, and grisled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to thee; 13I [am] the God of Bethel where thou hast anointed a standing pillar, where thou hast vowed a vow to me; now, arise, go out from this land, and turn back unto the land of thy birth.’ 14And Rachel answereth — Leah also — and saith to him, ‘Have we yet a portion and inheritance in the house of our father? 15have we not been reckoned strangers to him? for he hath sold us, and he also utterly consumeth our money; 16for all the wealth which God hath taken away from our father, it [is] ours, and our children’s; and now, all that God hath said unto thee — do.’

17And Jacob riseth, and lifteth up his sons and his wives on the camels, 18and leadeth all his cattle, and all his substance which he hath acquired, the cattle of his getting, which he hath acquired in Padan-Aram, to go unto Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. 19And Laban hath gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stealeth the teraphim which her father hath; 20and Jacob deceiveth the heart of Laban the Aramaean, because he hath not declared to him that he is fleeing; 21and he fleeth, he and all that he hath, and riseth, and passeth over the River, and setteth his face [toward] the mount of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22And it is told to Laban on the third day that Jacob hath fled, 23and he taketh his brethren with him, and pursueth after him a journey of seven days, and overtaketh him in the mount of Gilead. 24And God cometh in unto Laban the Aramaean in a dream of the night, and saith to him, ‘Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good unto evil.’

25And Laban overtaketh Jacob; and Jacob hath fixed his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren have fixed [theirs] in the mount of Gilead. 26And Laban saith to Jacob, ‘What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword? 27Why hast thou hidden thyself to flee, and deceivest me, and hast not declared to me, and I send thee away with joy and with songs, with tabret and with harp, 28and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? — now thou hast acted foolishly in doing [so]; 29my hand is to God to do evil with you, but the God of your father yesternight hath spoken unto me, saying, Take heed to thyself from speaking with Jacob from good unto evil. 30‘And now, thou hast certainly gone, because thou hast been very desirous for the house of thy father; why hast thou stolen my gods?’ 31And Jacob answereth and saith to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest thou take violently away thy daughters from me; 32with whomsoever thou findest thy gods — he doth not live; before our brethren discern for thyself what [is] with me, and take to thyself:’ and Jacob hath not known that Rachel hath stolen them.

33And Laban goeth into the tent of Jacob, and into the tent of Leah, and into the tent of the two handmaidens, and hath not found; and he goeth out from the tent of Leah, and goeth into the tent of Rachel. 34And Rachel hath taken the teraphim, and putteth them in the furniture of the camel, and sitteth upon them; and Laban feeleth all the tent, and hath not found; 35and she saith unto her father, ‘Let it not be displeasing in the eyes of my lord that I am not able to rise at thy presence, for the way of women [is] on me;’ and he searcheth, and hath not found the teraphim.

36And it is displeasing to Jacob, and he striveth with Laban; and Jacob answereth and saith to Laban, ‘What [is] my transgression? what my sin, that thou hast burned after me? 37for thou hast felt all my vessels: what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? set here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and they decide between us both. 38‘These twenty years I [am] with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not miscarried, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten; 39the torn I have not brought in unto thee — I, I repay it — from my hand thou dost seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night; 40I have been [thus]: in the day consumed me hath drought, and frost by night, and wander doth my sleep from mine eyes. 41‘This [is] to me twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou changest my hire ten times; 42unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now empty thou hadst sent me away; mine affliction and the labour of my hands hath God seen, and reproveth yesternight.’

Jacob's Covenant with Laban

43And Laban answereth and saith unto Jacob, ‘The daughters [are] my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the flock my flock, and all that thou art seeing [is] mine; and to my daughters — what do I to these to-day, or to their sons whom they have born? 44and now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and it hath been for a witness between me and thee.’ 45And Jacob taketh a stone, and lifteth it up [for] a standing pillar; 46and Jacob saith to his brethren, ‘Gather stones,’ and they take stones, and make a heap; and they eat there on the heap; 47and Laban calleth it Jegar-Sahadutha; and Jacob hath called it Galeed. 48And Laban saith, ‘This heap [is] witness between me and thee to-day;’ therefore hath he called its name Galeed; 49Mizpah also, for he said, ‘Jehovah doth watch between me and thee, for we are hidden one from another; 50if thou afflict my daughters, or take wives beside my daughters — there is no man with us — see, God [is] witness between me and thee.’ 51And Laban saith to Jacob, ‘Lo, this heap, and lo, the standing pillar which I have cast between me and thee; 52this heap [is] witness, and the standing pillar [is] witness, that I do not pass over this heap unto thee, and that thou dost not pass over this heap and this standing pillar unto me — for evil; 53the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, doth judge between us — the God of their father,’ and Jacob sweareth by the Fear of his father Isaac. 54And Jacob sacrificeth a sacrifice in the mount, and calleth to his brethren to eat bread, and they eat bread, and lodge in the mount; 55and Laban riseth early in the morning, and kisseth his sons and his daughters, and blesseth them; and Laban goeth on, and turneth back to his place.