31:1 And Jacob heard the words of the sons
of Laban, saying, Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and of our
father's property has he gotten all this glory.
31:2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and behold it was not toward
him as before.
31:3 And Yehovah said to Jacob, Return to the land of thy father, and to
thy family, and I will be with thee.
31:4 And Jacob sent and called Lea and Rachel to the plain where the flocks
were.
31:5 And he said to them, I see the face of your father, that it is not
toward me as before, but the Elohim of my father was with me.
31:6 And ye too know that with all my might I have served your father.
31:7 But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs,
yet Elohim gave him not [power] to hurt me.
31:8 If he should say thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then all the
cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say, The white shall be thy
reward, then would all the cattle bear white.
31:9 So Elohim has taken away all the cattle of your father, and given them to
me.
31:10 And it came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young,
that I beheld with mine eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams
leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted
with ash-coloured spots.
31:11 And the Messenger of Elohim said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is
it?
31:12 And he said, Look up with thine eyes, and behold the he-goats and the
rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and
spotted with ash-coloured spots; for I have seen all things that Laban does
to thee.
31:13 I am Elohim that appeared to thee in the place of Elohim where thou
anointedst a pillar to me, and vowedst to me there a vow; now then arise and
depart out of this land, depart into the land of thy nativity, and I will be
with thee.
31:14 And Rachel and Lea answered and said to him, Have we yet a part or
inheritance in the house of our father?
31:15 Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and quite
devoured our money.
31:16 All the wealth and the glory which Elohim has taken from our father, it
shall be our's and our children's; now then do whatsoever Elohim has said to
thee.
31:17 And Jacob arose and took his wives and his children up on the camels;
31:18 and he took away all his possessions and all his store, which he had
gotten in Mesopotamia, and all that belonged to him, to depart to Isaac his
father in the land of Chanaan.
31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole her father's
images.
31:20 And Jacob hid [the matter from] Laban the Syrian, so as not to tell
him that he ran away.
31:21 And he departed himself and all that belonged to him, and passed over
the river, and went into the mountain Galaad.
31:22 But it was told Laban the Syrian on the third day, that Jacob was
fled.
31:23 And having taken his brethren with him, he pursued after him seven
days' journey, and overtook him on Mount Galaad.
31:24 And Elohim came to Laban the Syrian in sleep by night, and said to him,
Take heed to thyself that thou speak not at any time to Jacob evil things.
31:25 And Laban overtook Jacob; and Jacob pitched his tent in the mountain;
and Laban stationed his brothers in the mount Galaad.
31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done? wherefore didst thou run
away secretly, and pillage me, and lead away my daughters as captives taken
with the sword?
31:27 Whereas if thou hadst told me, I would have sent thee away with mirth,
and with songs, and timbrels, and harp.
31:28 And I was not counted worthy to embrace my children and my daughters;
now then thou hast wrought foolishly.
31:29 And now my hand has power to hurt thee; but the Elohim of thy father
spoke to me yesterday, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not evil
words to Jacob.
31:30 Now then go on thy way, for thou hast earnestly desired to depart to
the house of thy father; wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31:31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I
said, Lest at any time thou shouldest take away thy daughters from me, and
all my possessions.
31:32 And Jacob said, With whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, he shall not
live in the presence of our brethren; take notice of what I have of thy
property, and take it; and he observed nothing with him, but Jacob knew not
that his wife Rachel had stolen them.
31:33 And Laban went in and searched in the house of Lea, and found [them]
not; and he went out of the house of Lea, and searched in the house of
Jacob, and in the house of the two maid-servants, and found them not; and he
went also into the house of Rachel.
31:34 And Rachel took the idols, and cast them among the camel's packs, and
sat upon them.
31:35 And she said to her father, Be not indignant, Sir; I cannot rise up
before thee, for it is with me according to the manner of women. Laban
searched in all the house, and found not the images.
31:36 And Jacob was angry, and strove with Laban; and Jacob answered and
said to Laban, What is my injustice, and what my sin, that thou hast pursued
after me,
31:37 and that thou hast searched all the furniture of my house? what hast
thou found of all the furniture of thine house? set it here between thy
relations and my relations, and let them decide between us two.
31:38 These twenty years have I been with thee; thy sheep, and thy she-goats
have not failed in bearing; I devoured not the rams of thy cattle.
31:39 That which was taken of beasts I brought not to thee; I made good of
myself the thefts of the day, and the thefts of the night.
31:40 I was parched with heat by day, and [chilled] with frost by night, and
my sleep departed from my eyes.
31:41 These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen
years for thy two daughters, and six years among thy sheep, and thou didst
falsely rate my wages for ten lambs.
31:42 Unless I had the Elohim of my father Abraam, and the fear of Isaac, now
thou wouldest have sent me away empty; Elohim saw my humiliation, and the
labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.
31:43 And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters,
and the sons my sons, and the cattle are my cattle, and all things which
thou seest are mine, and [the property] of my daughters; what shall I do to
them to-day, or their children which they bore?
31:44 Now then come, let me make a covenant, both I and thou, and it shall
be for a witness between me and thee; and he said to him, Behold, there is
no one with us; behold, Elohim is witness between me and thee.
31:45 And Jacob having taken a stone, set it up for a pillar.
31:46 And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones; and they gathered
stones and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap; and Laban said to him,
This heap witnesses between me and thee to-day.
31:47 And Laban called it, the Heap of Testimony; and Jacob called it, the
Witness Heap.
31:48 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and the pillar, which I
have set between me and thee; this heap witnesses, and this pillar
witnesses; therefore its name was called, the Heap witnesses.
31:49 And the vision of which he said-- Let Elohim look to it between me and
thee, because we are about to depart from each other,-
31:50 If thou shalt humble my daughters, if thou shouldest take wives in
addition to my daughters, see, there is no one with us looking on. Elohim [is]
witness between me and thee.
31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold, this heap, and this pillar are a
witness.
31:52 For if I should not cross over unto thee, neither shouldest thou cross
over to me, for mischief beyond this heap and this pillar.
31:53 The Elohim of Abraam and the Elohim of Nachor judge between us; and Jacob
swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
31:54 And he offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren,
and they ate and drank, and slept in the mountain.
31:55 And Laban rose up in the morning, and kissed his sons and his
daughters, and blessed them; and Laban having turned back, departed to his
place. |
31:1 And 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.
31:2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not
toward him as before.
31:3 And Yehovah said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and
to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
31:4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
31:5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not
toward me as before; but the Elohim of my father hath been with me.
31:6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
31:7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but
Elohim suffered him not to hurt me.
31:8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle
bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ring-streaked shall be thy hire;
then bare all the cattle ring-streaked.
31:9 Thus Elohim hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to
me.
31:10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I
lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped
upon the cattle were ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled.
31:11 And the Messenger of Elohim spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I
said, Here am I.
31:12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap
upon the cattle are ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled: for I have seen
all that Laban doeth unto thee.
31:13 I am the Elohim of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where
thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and
return unto the land of thy kindred.
31:14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any
portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
31:15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath
quite devoured also our money.
31:16 For all the riches which Elohim hath taken from our father, that is ours,
and our children's: now then, whatsoever Elohim hath said unto thee, do.
31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
31:18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had
gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to
go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images
that were her father's.
31:20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him
not that he fled.
31:21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the
river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.
31:22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days'
journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
31:24 And Elohim came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto
him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
31:25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the
mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen
away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with
the sword?
31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away 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?
31:28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast
now done foolishly in so doing.
31:29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the Elohim of your
father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not
to Jacob either good or bad.
31:30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore
longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31:31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I
said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
31:32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him 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.
31:33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the
two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's
tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
31:34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's
furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found
them not.
31:35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot
rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched but
found not the images.
31:36 And 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 so hotly
pursued after me?
31:37 Whereas thou hast searched 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 both.
31:38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats
have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
31:39 That 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.
31:40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen
years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast
changed my wages ten times.
31:42 Except the Elohim of my father, the Elohim of Abraham, and the fear of
Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. Elohim hath
seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
31:43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my
daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my
cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto
these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?
31:44 Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let
it be for a witness between me and thee.
31:45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
31:46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones,
and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
31:47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
31:48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.
Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
31:49 And Mizpah; for he said, Yehovah watch between me and thee, when we
are absent one from another.
31:50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives
beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, Elohim is witness betwixt me and
thee.
31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar,
which I have cast betwixt me and thee:
31:52 This heap be witness, and this 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.
31:53 The Elohim of Abraham, and the Elohim of Nahor, the Elohim of their father,
judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren
to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
31:55 And 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. |