Then he heard the words of Laban's sons, when they said, Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father, and he has gained all this wealth from what was our father's. 2 When Jacob saw Laban's face, he realized that he was not at all friendly as before. 3 Then Yehowah said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to your birthplace; and I will be with you. 4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the fields to his flock; 5 and he said to them, I see by your father's face that he is not at all friendly towards me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know, too, that I have served your father with all my strength. 7 And your father has dealt deceitfully with me, and changed my wages in ten ways; but God would not allow him to do evil to me. 8 If he said, The speckled shall be your reward, then all the flock produced speckled; and if he said, The striped shall be your reward, then all the flock produced striped. 9 And God has taken away your father's cattle and given them to me. 10 And when the flock was in heat, I raised my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 And the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob; and I said, Here I am. 12 And he said, Raise your eyes now, and see; all the he-goats that leap upon the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I 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. 14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there still any portion and inheritance for us in our father's house? 15 Are we not thought of as strangers by him, for he has sold us? And he has gone on to devour our silver. 16 For all the wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our sons; and so now do whatever God has told you.

17 Then Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; 18 and he brought away all his cattle and all his substance which he had gathered, the cattle which he had acquired, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his father, in the land of Canaan. 19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the images* which were her father's. 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, by not tiling him that he was going. 2l So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and crossed the river; and he set his face towards the mountains of Gilead. * Heb teraphim

22 And on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled; 23 and he took his brothers with him, and pursued him for a seven days' journey; and he caught up with him in the mountains of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night, and said to him, Take good care not to speak with Jacob either good or evil.

25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains; and Laban camped with his brothers in the mountains of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives by the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with gladness and songs, with drums and harps, 28 and have not allowed me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have been foolish in acting in this way. 29 It is in my power to do you evil; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, and said, Take good care not to speak with Jacob either good or evil. 30 And you have gone, indeed, because you longed so much for your father's home. But why have you stolen my gods? 31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our brothers, discover what I have of yours, and take it back. But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants, but did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent, and came into Rachel's tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them into the camel's straw,* and she was sitting on them. And Laban ransacked all the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, Do not let my lord look angry because I cannot rise up before you, for the way of women is upon me. And he searched thoroughly, but did not find the images. * Or saddle

36 And Jacob was angry, and disputed with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? 37 Although you have ransacked all my vessels, what article have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here before my brothers and your brothers, so that they may decide between the two of us. 38 For these twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39 I did not bring to you what had been torn; I made it good; you required it from my hands, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 This is how I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 I have served you in your house for these twenty years-fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock; and you have changed my wages in ten ways. 42 Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, certainly now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands, and has passed judgment last night.

43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that you see is mine; and as for my daughters, what can I do for them today, or for their sons whom they have borne? 44So come now, let us make a covenant, I and you; and let it be a witness between me and you. 45 Then Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his brothers, Gather some stones; and they fetched the stones and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap. 47 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha;* and Jacob called it Galeed.** 48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you today. Therefore it was named Galeed, 49 and Mizpah,*** for he said, Let Yehowah watch between me and you, for we are to be hidden from each other. 50 If you afflict my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, though no one knows, see, God is a witness between me and you. * In Aramaic The heap of witness ** In Hebrew The heap of witness *** That is The watching-place

51 And Laban said to Jacob, Look at this heap and at the pillar which I have set up between me and you. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for any evil purpose. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac. 54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread; and they ate bread, and spent the night in the mountains. 55 And Laban got up early in the morning and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban departed and returned to his place.