| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Jacob heard that Laban's sons were complaining, "Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich at our father's expense!" | 1Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth." |
| 2When Jacob saw the look on Laban's face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. | 2Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. |
| 3The LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you." | 3Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." |
| 4So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were. | 4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, |
| 5There he said to them, "I can tell that your father's attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. | 5and said to them, "I see your father's attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me. |
| 6You know that I've worked for your father as hard as I could, | 6"You know that I have served your father with all my strength. |
| 7but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. | 7"Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. |
| 8If he said, 'The speckled animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, 'The streaked animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. | 8"If he spoke thus, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth striped. |
| 9In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me. | 9"Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. |
| 10"Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. | 10"And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled. |
| 11In the dream the angel of God said to me, 'Jacob!' 'Here I am!' I replied. | 11"Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' |
| 12Then he said, 'Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. | 12"He said, 'Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. |
| 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.'" | 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'" |
| 14Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? | 14Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? |
| 15Hasn't he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us! | 15"Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. |
| 16Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you." | 16"Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you." |
| 17So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. | 17Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; |
| 18He took away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. | 18and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. |
| 19While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father. | 19When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's. |
| 20Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving. | 20And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. |
| 21He left with all he owned. He quickly crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead. | 21So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. |
| 22Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left. | 22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, |
| 23So he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for seven days. He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. | 23then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. |
| 24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, "Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob." | 24God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, "Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad." |
| 25Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. | 25Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. |
| 26"What have you done?" Laban demanded of Jacob. "You've deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! | 26Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? |
| 27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? | 27"Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; |
| 28You didn't even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren good-bye. You have acted foolishly! | 28and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. |
| 29I have the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, 'Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.' | 29"It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.' |
| 30Now I understand that you have gone away because you longed desperately for your father's house. Yet why did you steal my gods?" | 30"Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house; but why did you steal my gods?" |
| 31"I left secretly because I was afraid!" Jacob replied to Laban. "I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force. | 31Then Jacob replied to Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. |
| 32Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives identify whatever is yours and take it." (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) | 32"The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. |
| 33So Laban entered Jacob's tent, and Leah's tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. Then he left Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. | 33So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. |
| 34(Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel's saddle and sat on them.) Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. | 34Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. |
| 35Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period." So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols. | 35She said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the household idols. |
| 36Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. "What did I do wrong?" he demanded of Laban. "What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? | 36Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, "What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? |
| 37When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? Set it here before my relatives and yours, and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! | 37"Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. |
| 38"I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. | 38"These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. |
| 39Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. You always made me pay for every missing animal, whether it was taken by day or at night. | 39"That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. |
| 40I was consumed by scorching heat during the day and by piercing cold at night, and I went without sleep. | 40"Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. |
| 41This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you--fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times! | 41"These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times. |
| 42If the God of my father--the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears--had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night." | 42"If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night." |
| 43Laban replied to Jacob, "These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today or the children to whom they have given birth? | 43Then Laban replied to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? |
| 44So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace." | 44"So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me." |
| 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. | 45Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. |
| 46Then he said to his relatives, "Gather stones." So they brought stones and put them in a pile. They ate there by the pile of stones. | 46Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. |
| 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. | 47Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. |
| 48Laban said, "This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today." That is why it was called Galeed. | 48Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me this day." Therefore it was named Galeed, |
| 49It was also called Mizpah because he said, "May the LORD watch between us when we are out of sight of one another. | 49and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. |
| 50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize that God is witness to your actions." | 50"If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me." |
| 51"Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you," Laban said to Jacob. | 51Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. |
| 52"This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. | 52"This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. |
| 53May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us." Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. | 53"The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. |
| 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. | 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. |
| 55Early in the morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. | 55Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. |
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