Jacob Runs Away

31 One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking. They said, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned, and ·in this way he has become rich [^Lhe has gotten all this wealth from our father].” ² Then Jacob ·noticed [saw] that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before. ³ The Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land ·where your ancestors lived [^Lof your fathers and your birthplace], and I will be with you [^Cindicating Jacob’s covenant with God].”

⁴ So Jacob ·told [^Lsent for] Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks. ⁵ He said to them, “I have seen that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You both know that I have ·worked [served] ·as hard as I could [^Lwith all my power/strength] for your father, ⁷ but he ·cheated [mocked; deceived] me and changed my ·pay [wages] ten times. But God has not allowed your father to harm me. ⁸ When Laban said, ‘You can have all the speckled animals as your ·pay [wages],’ all the animals gave birth to speckled young ones. But when he said, ‘You can have all the streaked animals as your ·pay [wages],’ all the flocks gave birth to streaked babies [30:37–43]. ⁹ So God has taken the ·animals [livestock] away from your father and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “I had a dream during the season when the flocks were ·mating [^Lin heat]. I saw that the only male goats who were ·mating [mounting; ^Lgoing up] were streaked, speckled, or spotted. ¹¹ The ·angel [messenger] of God [16:7] spoke to me in that dream and said, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Yes!’ ¹² The ·angel [messenger] said, ‘·Look [^LRaise up your eyes and see]! Only the streaked, speckled, or spotted male goats are ·mating [mounting; ^Lgoing up]. I have seen all ·the wrong things [^Lthat which] Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God ·who appeared to you at [^Lof] Bethel, where you ·poured olive oil on [anointed] the ·stone you set up on end [pillar; 28:18–19] and where you made a ·promise [vow] to me. Now I want you to leave ·here [^Lthis land] and go back to the land where you were born.’ ”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “·Our father has nothing to give us when he dies [^LIs there any lot/portion or inheritance still in our father’s house?]. ¹⁵ He has ·treated [considered] us like ·strangers [or foreigners]. He sold us to you, and ·then he spent all of the money you paid for us [^Ldevoured the money]. ¹⁶ God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do.”

¹⁷ So Jacob [^Lrose up and] put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and they began their journey back to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan. All the flocks of animals that Jacob owned walked ahead of them. He carried ·everything [all the property] with him that he had gotten while he lived in ·northwestern Mesopotamia [^LPaddan-aram].

¹⁹ While Laban was gone to ·cut the wool from [shear] his sheep, Rachel stole the ·idols [^Lteraphim; ^Cprobably his household gods] that belonged to ·him [^Lher father]. ²⁰ And Jacob ·tricked [deceived; ^Lstole the heart of] Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was ·leaving [fleeing]. ²¹ ·Jacob and his family [^LHe and all that was his] ·left quickly [fled], crossed the ·Euphrates River [^LRiver; ^Cthe northern Euphrates separated Mesopotamia from Syria], and traveled toward the mountains of Gilead [^Cthe northernmost part of Palestine].

²² Three days later ·Laban learned [^Lit was told/reported to Laban] that Jacob had ·run away [fled], ²³ so he ·gathered [^Ltook] his ·relatives [^Lbrothers] and began to ·chase [pursue] him. After seven days Laban ·found [caught up with] him in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴ That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, “Be careful! Do not say anything to Jacob, good or bad.”

The Search for the Stolen Idols

²⁵ So Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had ·made his camp [^Lpitched his tent] in the mountains, so Laban and his ·relatives [^Lbrothers] ·set up their camp [pitched] in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You ·cheated me [deceived me; ^Lstole my heart] and ·took [^Lcarried away] my daughters as if you had captured them ·in a war [^Lwith a sword]. ²⁷ Why did you ·run away secretly [sneak off] and ·trick [deceive; ^Lsteal from] me? Why didn’t you tell me? Then I could have sent you away with joy and singing and with the music of tambourines and ·harps [lyres]. ²⁸ You did not even let me kiss my ·grandchildren [^Lsons] and my daughters good-bye. You were very foolish to do this! ²⁹ I have the power to harm you, but last night the God of your father spoke to me and warned me not to say anything to you, good or bad. ³⁰ I know you want to go back to ·your home [^Lthe house of your father], but why did you steal my ·idols [^Lgods; 31:19]?”

³¹ Jacob answered [^Land said to] Laban, “I left without telling you, because I was afraid you would ·take [forcibly remove] your daughters away from me. ³² If you find anyone here who has taken your ·idols [gods], that person will ·be killed [^Lnot live]! ·Your [^LOur] ·relatives [^Lbrothers] will be my witnesses. You may look for anything that belongs to you and take anything that is yours.” (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols.)

³³ So Laban ·looked [^Lwent] in Jacob’s tent, in Leah’s tent, and in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find his idols. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Rachel had hidden the ·idols [teraphim; 31:19] inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Although Laban looked through the whole tent, he did not find them.

³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Father, don’t be angry with me. I am not able to stand up before you because ·I am having my monthly period [^Lthe way of women is on me].” So Laban ·looked through the camp [^Lsearched], but he did not find ·his idols [^Lthe teraphim].

³⁶ Then Jacob became very angry and accused Laban and said, “What ·wrong have I done [is my offense]? What ·law have I broken [^Lis my sin] to cause you to ·chase [hotly pursue] me? ³⁷ You have ·looked [felt] through everything I own, but you have found nothing that belongs to you. If you have found anything, show it to everyone. Put it in front of your ·relatives [^Lbrothers] and my ·relatives [^Lbrothers], and let them ·decide which one of us is right [judge between us]. ³⁸ I have ·worked for [^Lbeen with] you now for twenty years. During all that time none of the ·lambs [ewes] and kids ·died during birth [miscarried], and I have not eaten any of the ·male sheep [rams] from your flocks. ³⁹ Any time an animal was killed by wild beasts, I did not bring it to you, but made up for the loss myself. You made me pay for any animal that was stolen during the day or night. ⁴⁰ In the daytime the ·sun [heat] ·took away my strength [^Lconsumed me], and at night I was cold and ·could not sleep [^Lsleep fled from my eyes]. ⁴¹ I [^Lwas in your house and] worked like a slave for you for twenty years—the first fourteen to get your two daughters and the last six to earn your flocks. During that time you changed my ·pay [wages] ten times. ⁴² But the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the ·God [^LFear; ^Ca title for God; Prov. 1:7] of Isaac, was with me. Otherwise, you would have sent me away with nothing. But he saw the ·trouble [affliction] I had and the hard work I did, and last night he ·corrected [admonished; reproved] you.”

Jacob and Laban’s Treaty

⁴³ Laban said to Jacob, “·These girls [^LThe daughters] are my daughters. ·Their children belong to me [^LThe sons are my sons], and ·these flocks are mine [^Lthe flocks are my flocks]. Everything you see here belongs to me, but ·I can do nothing to keep [^Lwhat can I do about…?] my daughters and their children. ⁴⁴ ·Let us make [^LCome, let us cut] ·an agreement [a covenant/treaty; 6:18], and let ·us set up a pile of stones to remind us of it [^Lit be a witness between us].”

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a large rock and set it ·up on its end [^Las a pillar]. ⁴⁶ ·He [^LJacob] told his ·relatives [^Lbrothers] to gather rocks, so they took the rocks and ·piled them up [made a pile/mound/heap]; then they ·ate [feasted] beside the pile [^Ctreaties were often celebrated by a feast]. ⁴⁷ Laban named that place in his language A Pile to Remind Us [Jegar-sahadutha; ^Che spoke Aramaic], and Jacob called the place Galeed [^Cthe Hebrew version of the Aramaic name].

⁴⁸ Laban said to Jacob, “This ·pile of rocks [mound; heap] will ·remind us of the agreement [^Lbe a witness] between us.” That is why the place was called ·A Pile to Remind Us [Galeed]. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah [^Csounds like “watch” in Hebrew], because Laban said, “Let the Lord watch over us while we are ·separated [absent] from each other. ⁵⁰ Remember that God is our witness even if no one else is around us. He will know if you ·harm [abuse] my daughters or ·marry [take] other women. ⁵¹ Here is the ·pile of rocks [mound; heap] that I have ·put [thrown up] between us and here is the ·rock I set up on end [pillar]. ⁵² This ·pile of rocks [mound; heap] and this ·rock set on end [pillar] will ·remind us of our agreement [^Lbe a witness]. I will never go past this ·pile [mound; heap] to hurt you, and you must never come to my side of them to hurt me. ⁵³ Let the God of Abraham, who is the God of Nahor and the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], ·punish either of us if we break this agreement [^Ljudge between us].”

So Jacob made a promise ·in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshiped [^Lby the fear of his father Isaac]. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob ·killed an animal and offered it as [^Loffered] a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his ·relatives [^Lbrothers] to share in the meal [31:46]. After they finished eating, they spent the night on the mountain. ⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his ·grandchildren [^Lsons] and his daughters and blessed them, and then he left to return ·home [^Lto his place].