1And he heard the words of Laban ’s sons , saying , Jacob hath taken away all that was our father ’s; and of that which was our father ’s hath he gotten all this glory . 2And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban , and , behold , it was not toward him as beforetime . 3And Jehovah said unto Jacob , Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred ; and I will be with thee . 4And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock , 5and said unto them , I see your father’s countenance , that it is not toward me as beforetime ; but the God of my father hath been with me . 6And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. 7And your father hath deceived me , and changed my wages ten times ; but God suffered him not to hurt me . 8If he said thus , The speckled shall be thy wages ; then all the flock bare speckled : and if he said thus , The ringstreaked shall be thy wages ; then bare all the flock ringstreaked. 9Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me . 10And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceive , that I lifted up mine eyes , and saw in a dream , and , behold , the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were ringstreaked, speckled , and grizzled. 11And the angel of God said unto me in the dream , Jacob : and I said, Here am I . 12And he said, Lift up now thine eyes , and see : all the he-goats which leap upon the flock are ringstreaked, speckled , and grizzled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee . 13I am the God of Beth-el , where thou anointedst a pillar , where thou vowedst a vow unto me : now arise , get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity . 14And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him , Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house ? 15Are we not accounted by him as foreigners ? for he hath sold us , and hath also quite devoured our money . 16For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father , that is ours and our children ’s: now then , whatsoever God hath said unto thee , do . 17Then Jacob rose up , and set his sons and his wives upon the camels ; 18and he carried away all his cattle , and all his substance which he had gathered , the cattle of his getting , which he had gathered in Paddan-aram , to go to Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan . 19Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep : and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s. 20And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled . 21So he fled with all that he had ; and he rose up , and passed over the River , and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead .
Laban Pursues Jacob
22And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled . 23And he took his brethren with him , and pursued after him seven days ’ journey ; and he overtook him in the mountain of Gilead . 24And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night , and said unto him , Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad . 25And Laban came up with Jacob . Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain : and Laban with his brethren encamped in the mountain of Gilead . 26And Laban said to Jacob , What hast thou done , that thou hast stolen away unawares to me , and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword ? 27Wherefore didst thou flee secretly , and steal away from me , and didst not tell me , that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs , with tabret and with harp ; 28and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters ? now hast thou done foolishly . 29It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt : but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying , Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad . 30And now , though thou wouldest needs be gone , because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house , yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods ? 31And Jacob answered and said to Laban , Because I was afraid : for I said , Lest thou shouldest take thy daughters from me by force . 32With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live : before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me , and take it to thee . For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them . 33And Laban went into Jacob ’s tent, and into Leah ’s tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not . And he went out of Leah ’s tent, and entered into Rachel ’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the teraphim , and put them in the camel ’s saddle , and sat upon them . And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not . 35And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee ; for the manner of women is upon me . And he searched , but found not the teraphim .
The Covenant at Mizpah
36And Jacob was wroth , and chode with Laban : and Jacob answered and said to Laban , What is my trespass ? what is my sin , that thou hast hotly pursued after me ? 37Whereas thou hast felt about all my stuff , what hast thou found of all thy household stuff ? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us two . 38These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young , and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten. 39That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee ; I bare the loss of it ; of my hand didst thou require it , whether stolen by day or stolen by night . 40Thus I was ; in the day the drought consumed me , and the frost by night ; and my sleep fled from mine eyes . 41These twenty years have I been in thy house ; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters , and six years for thy flock : and thou hast changed my wages ten times . 42Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac , had been with me , surely now hadst thou sent me away empty . God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands , and rebuked thee yesternight. 43And Laban answered and said unto Jacob , The daughters are my daughters , and the children are my children , and the flocks are my flocks , and all that thou seest is mine : and what can I do this day unto these my daughters , or unto their children whom they have borne ? 44And now come , let us make a covenant , I and thou ; and let it be for a witness between me and thee . 45And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar . 46And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap : and they did eat there by the heap . 47And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha: but Jacob called it Galeed . 48And Laban said , This heap is witness between me and thee this day . Therefore was the name of it called Galeed : 49and Mizpah , for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another . 50If thou shalt afflict my daughters , and if thou shalt take wives besides my daughters , no man is with us ; see , God is witness betwixt me and thee . 51And Laban said to Jacob , Behold this heap , and behold the pillar , which I have set betwixt me and thee. 52This heap be witness , and the pillar be witness , that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me , for harm . 53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor , the God of their father, judge betwixt us . And Jacob sware by the Fear of his father Isaac . 54And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain , and called his brethren to eat bread : and they did eat bread , and tarried all night in the mountain . 55And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.