Jacob Flees from Laban

1He herde also of ye wordes of Labans children, that they sayde: Iacob hath brought all or fathers good vnto him self, & of oure fathers good hath he gotten these riches. 2And Iacob behelde Labans countenaunce, & beholde, it was not towarde him as yesterdaye and yeryesterdaye. 3And the LORDE sayde vnto him: Departe agayne to thy fatherlade, and to thy kynred, I wyll be with the. 4Then sent Iacob and bad call Rachel and Lea in to the felde to his flockes, 5and sayde vnto them: I se youre fathers countenaunce, that it is not towarde me like as yesterdaye and yeryesterdaye: but the God of my father hath bene with me. 6And ye knowe, that I haue serued youre father with all my power. 7And he hath disceaued me, and chaunged my wages now ten tymes. But God hath not suffred him, to do me harme. 8Yf he sayde: The partye coloured shalbe thy rewarde, then the whole flocke bare partye coloured.Yf he sayde: The speckelde shalbe thy rewarde, the the whole flocke bare speckelde. 9Thus hath God with drawen youre fathers goodes from him, and geuen them vnto me. 10For whan the buckynge tyme came, I lift vp myne eyes and sawe in a dreame, and beholde, the rammes leapte vpon the flocke that was speckelde, spotted, & partye coloured. 11And the angel of God sayde vnto me in a dreame: Iacob. And I answered: here am I. 12He sayde: lift vp thine eyes, and beholde, the rammes leape vpon the speckelde, spotted, and partie coloured flocke: for I haue sene all yt Laban doth vnto the. 13I am ye God at Bethel, where thou dyddest anoynte the stone, & maydest a vowe there vnto me. Get the vp now, & departe out of this londe, & go agayne in to the londe of thy kynred. 14Then answered Rachel and Lea, and sayde vnto him: As for vs, we haue no porcion ner inheritauce more in oure fathers house, 15& he hath couted vs as straugers, for he hath solde vs, & spent vp or wages. 16Therfore hath God withdrawe or fathers riches from him vnto vs & oure children. What so euer now God hath sayde vnto the, that do.

17So Iacob gat vp, and set his children and wyues vpon Camels, 18and caried awaye all his catell and all his substaunce, that he had gotten at Mesopotamia, yt he might come vnto Isaac his father in the lande of Canaan. 19Laba was gone to clyppe his flocke, and Rachel stale hir fathers ymages. 20Thus dyd Iacob steale awaie ye hert of Laban ye Syrian, in yt he tolde him not that he fled. 21So he fled, & all that was his, gat vp, and passed ouer the water, & wente straight towarde the mount Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22Vpon the thirde daye it was tolde Laban, that Iacob fled. 23And he toke his brethre vnto him, and folowed after him seuen dayes iourney, and ouertoke him vpon the mount Gilead. 24But God came vnto Laban the Syrian in a dreame by night, & sayde vnto him: Be warre, that thou speake nothinge to Iacob but good.

25And Laba drew nye vnto Iacob. As for Iacob, he had pytched his tente vpon the mount. And Laban with his brethre pytched his tent also vpon the same mount Gilead. 26Then sayde Laban vnto Iacob: What hast thou done, that thou hast stollen awaie my hert, and caried awaye my doughters, as though they had bene taken captyue wt ye swerde? 27Wherfore keptest thou that secrete, that thou woldest flye, and hast stollen awaye fro me, and toldest me not, that I might haue brought the on the waye with myrth, with synginge, with tabrettes and harpes? 28and hast not suffred me to kysse my children and doughters? Thou hast done foolishly, and so moch might I haue made, 29that I coude haue done you euell: but youre fathers God saide yesterdaye vnto me: Bewarre, that thou speake nothinge vnto Iacob but good. 30And for so moch then as thou woldest nedes departe, and longedest sore after yi fathers house, why hast thou stollen away my goddes? 31Iacob answered and sayde vnto Laban: I was afrayed, that thou shuldest haue taken away thy doughters fro me: 32but loke by whom thou fyndest thy goddes, let the same dye here before oure brethren. Seke that thine is by me, and take it awaye. (But he knew not, that Rachel had stollen them.)

33Then wente Laban in to Iacobs tent and in to Leas tent, and in to both the maydens tetes, and founde nothinge: and out of Leas tente he wente in to Rachels tent. 34Then toke Rachel the ymages, and layed them vnder the Camels strawe, and sat downe vpon them. But Laban searched the whole tent, and founde nothinge. 35Then sayde she vnto hir father: Be not angrie my lorde, that I can not ryse vp vnto the: for it goeth wt me after the maner of wemen. So he sought, and founde not the ymages.

36And Iacob was wroth, and chode with Laban, answered & sayde vnto him: What haue I trespased or offended, yt thou art so whote vpon me? 37Thou hast searched all my housholde stuff, & what hast thou founde of thy housholde stuff? Laye it here before my brethren & thyne, yt they maye iudge betwene vs both. 38Twentye yeare haue I bene wt the: thy shepe & goates haue not bene vnfrutefull, the rammes of thy flocke haue I not eaten: 39Loke what was torne of beastes, I brought it not vnto ye, I was fayne to paie it my self: thou requyredest it of my hande, whether it were stollen fro me by daye or by night. 40On the daye tyme the heate cosumed me, and the frost on the night, and my slepe departed fro myne eyes. 41Thus haue I serued twentye yeare in thy house, fourtene yeares for thy doughters, & sixe for thy flocke, and ten tymes hast thou chaunged my rewarde: 42& yf the God of my father the God of Abraham, and the feare of Isaac had not bene on my syde, thou haddest latten me go awaye emptye. But God hath loked vpon myne aduersite and laboure, and rebuked the yesterdaye.

Jacob’s Covenant with Laban

43Laban answered and sayde: The doughters are my doughters, & the children are my childre, and the flockes are my flockes, & all that thou seist is myne. What can I do this daye vnto these my doughters, or to their children whom they haue borne? 44Now therfore come on, let vs make a couenaunt (I & thou) which maye be a wytnesse betwene me and the. 45Then toke Iacob a stone, & set it vp (for a piler or markstone) 46and sayde vnto his brethren: Gather stones. And they toke the stones, and made an heape, & ate vpon the same heape. 47And Laba called it Iegar Sahadutha, but Iacob called it Gilead: (either of them after the properte of his language.) 48Then sayde Laban: This heape be wytnesse betwene me and the this daye (therfore is it called Gilead) 49and a testimony, for he sayde: The LORDE loke betwene me and ye, whan we are departed ye one from ye other: 50yf thou vexe my doughters, or take other wyues vnto them. There is no ma with vs, but lo, God is the wytnesse betwene me and the. 51And Laban sayde morouer vnto Iacob: Beholde, this is the heape, and this is the marckstone that I haue set vp betwixte me and the: 52the same heape be wytnesse, and the same marckstone also be wytnesse, yf I passe ouer vnto the, or yf thou passe ouer this heape & marckstone vnto me, to do eny harme. 53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, and the God of their fathers, be iudge betwene vs. And Iacob sware vnto him by the feare of his father Isaac. 54And Iacob offred an offerynge vpon the mount, and called his brethre to eate bred. And whan they had eaten, they taried vpon the mount all night. 55But vpon the morow Laban rose vp early, kyssed his childre & doughters, & blessed the, & departed, and came agayne vnto his place.