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1 And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s; all his glory has been obtained at our father’s expense.”

2 And Jacob saw the change in Laban, in his countenance, that he was not toward him as before.

3 And the LORD said to “Jacob, Return to the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with you.”

4 So Jacob called Rachel and Leah to the field, unto his flock,

5 and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that he is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

6 And you know that with all my power I have served your father.

7 And your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to hurt me.

8 If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages;’ then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, ‘The ringstreaked shall be thy wages;’ then all the flock would bare ringstreaked.

9 Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.”

10 And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceived, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled.

11 And the angel of God said unto me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’

12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and look: all the he-goats which leap upon the flock are ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.

13 I am the God of Beth-el, where you anointed a pillar, where you swore a vow to me; now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your nativity.’”

14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him and said, “Is there any portion of inheritance left for us in our father’s house?

15 Are we as foreigners to him? for he has sold us, and has spent all our[b] money.

16 Now all the riches which God has taken away from our father are ours and our children’s; therefore, whatever God has asked of you, you may do it.”

17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon the camels;

18 and he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever that he had gotten in Mesopotamia, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

19 Now when Laban had gone out to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.

20 And when Jacob suddenly left, Laban the Syrian was unaware, for he had not told him he was leaving.

21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the River[d], and set his course toward the mountain of Gilead.

22 And it was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.

23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and he overtook him at mount Gilead.

24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said unto him, “Be very careful that you do not speak to Jacob, to bribe him or to threaten him.”

25 Now when Laban had overtaken Jacob, where Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, Laban and his brethren pitched their tents nearby.

26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you stole away unaware to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?”

27 Why did you secretly flee away, to steal[e] 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;

28 and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters goodbye? that was foolish of you.

29 It is in my power now to hurt you; but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, ‘Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.’

30 So now I know you desire to return home, because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, “I fled because I was afraid; for I thought ‘Maybe he will take back his daughters from me by force.’

32 But with whomsoever you find your gods, he shall not live; before our brethren[a] look and see now what is yours and take it back.” For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not.

35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the manner of women is upon me.” And he searched, but found not the teraphim.

36 And Jacob became angry and answered and said to Laban, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have chased me down like this?”

37 Now that you have searched through my things, what have you found from your household? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us.

38 These twenty years have I been with you; your sheep and goats have not cast their young, and the rams of your flocks I have not eaten.

39 That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you, I bore the loss of it myself; as of my hand did you require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

40 That is how it was; in the day the drought consumed me, and in the night the frost consumed me, and sleep fled from before my eyes.

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 have changed my wages ten times.

42 Except that the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty. God saw my suffering and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

43 And Laban answered and said unto 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 now for my daughters, or for their children whom they have borne?”

44 Therefore come, let us make a covenant, me and you; and let it be for a witness between me and you.”

45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46 And Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones;” and they took stones, and made a heap: and they ate there by the heap.

47 And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha ([f] in Aramaic): but Jacob called it Galeed ([g] in Hebrew).

48 And Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and your this day.” Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

49 and Mizpah[h], for he said, “The LORD watch between me and you, when we are apart from one another.

50 If you shall cause my daughters suffering, and if you shall take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and you.”

51 And Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I have set between me and you.

52 This heap be witness, and the pillar be 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 harm.

53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.

54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they ate bread, and camped all night in the mountain.

55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; then Laban departed, and returned to his place.

[1] One must wonder aloud at the choice to split Genesis 30 and 31 at this point, because even the original text begins with ‘and’.

[15] Or, the price paid for us

[18] Padan-Aram (GNV,KJV); Mesopotamia (DRA)

[20] Hebrew stole the heart of Laban the Aramean.

[21] the Euphrates river.

[27] Hebrew ‘didst steal me’, perhaps a double meaning leading into ‘why did you steal my idols?’.

[32] in the sight of everyone present for witnesses

[47] That is, The heap of witness, in Aramaic.

[47] That is, The heap of witness, in Hebrew.

[49] That is, The watch tower.

[49] Hebrew hidden.