But afterwards, he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and being enlarged by his ability, he has become famous.
Likewise, he observed that Laban’s face was not the same toward him as it was yesterday and the day before
Most importantly, the Lord was saying to him, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your generation, and I will be with you.
He sent and called for Rachel and Leah, in the field where he pastured the flocks
and he said to them: “I see that your father’s face is not the same toward me as it was yesterday and the day before. But the God of my father has been with me
And you know that I have served your father with all my strength
Even so, your father has circumvented me, and he has changed my wages ten times. And yet God has not permitted him to harm me
Whenever he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ all the sheep gave birth to speckled newborns. Yet truly, when he said the contrary, ‘You will take whatever is white for your wages,’ all the flocks gave birth to white ones
And it is God who has taken your father’s substance and given it to me
For after the time had arrived for the ewes to conceive, I lifted up my eyes, and I saw in my sleep that the males climbing on the females were of variegated, and spotted, and diverse colors
And the Angel of God said to me in my sleep, ‘Jacob.’ And I responded, ‘Here I am.
And he said: ‘Lift up your eyes, and see that all the males climbing on the females are variegated, spotted, and also speckled. For I have seen all that Laban has done to you
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and depart from this land, returning to the land of your nativity.’
And Rachel and Leah responded: “Have we anything left behind among the resources and inheritance of our father’s house
Has he not considered us as foreigners, and sold us, and consumed our price
But God has taken our father’s riches and handed these to us and to our sons. Therefore, do all that God has instructed you.
And so Jacob rose up, and having placed the children and his wives upon camels, he went forth
And he took all his substance and flocks, and whatever he had acquired in Mesopotamia, and he journeyed to his father Isaac, in the land of Canaan
At that time, Laban had gone to shear the sheep, and so Rachel stole her father’s idols
And Jacob was not willing to confess to his father-in-law that he was fleeing
And when he had gone away with all such things that were justly his, and, having crossed the river, was continuing on toward Mount Gilead
it was reported to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled
And taking his brothers with him, he pursued him for seven days. And he overtook him at Mount Gilead
And he saw in a dream, God saying to him, “Beware that you not speak anything harsh against Jacob.
And now Jacob had pitched his tent at the mountain. And when he, with his brothers, had overtaken him, he set his tent at the same place at Mount Gilead
And he said to Jacob: “Why have you acted this way, departing from me in secret, with my daughters like captives of the sword
Why would you want to flee without my knowledge and without telling me, though I might have led you forward with gladness, and songs, and timbrels, and lyres
You have not permitted me to kiss my sons and daughters. You have acted foolishly. And now, indeed
my hand has power to repay you with harm. But the God of your father said to me yesterday, ‘Beware that you not speak anything stern against Jacob.
It may be that you desired to go to your own, and that you longed for the house of your father. But why have you stolen my gods?
Jacob answered: “I set out, unknown to you, because I feared that you might take away your daughters by violence
But, since you accuse me of theft, with whomever you will find your gods, let him be slain in the sight of our brothers. Search; anything of yours that you will find with me, take it away.” Now when he said this, he did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols
And so Laban, entering the tent of Jacob, and of Leah, and of both the handmaids, did not find them. And when he had entered the tent of Rachel
she quickly hid the idols under the camel’s bedding, and she sat upon them. And when he had searched the entire tent and found nothing
she said: “Do not be angry, my lord, that I am unable to rise up in your sight, because it has now happened to me according to the custom of women.” So his careful search was thwarted
And Jacob, being inflated, said with contention: “For which fault of mine, or for what sin of mine, have you become so enraged against m
and searched all the items of my house? What have you found from all the substance of your house? Place it here before my brothers, and your brothers, and let them judge between me and you
For what reason have I been with you for twenty years? Your ewes and she-goats were not barren; the rams of your flocks I did not consume
Neither did I reveal to you what was seized by the wild beast. I replaced all that was damaged. Whatever was lost by theft, you collected it from me
Day and night, I was burned by heat and by frost, and sleep fled from my eyes
And in this way, for twenty years, I have served you in your house: fourteen for your daughters, and six for your flocks. You have also changed my wages ten times
If the God of my father Abraham and the fear of Isaac had not been close to me, perhaps by now you would have sent me away naked. But God looked kindly on my affliction and the labor of my hands, and he rebuked you yesterday.
Laban answered him: “My daughters and sons, and your flocks, and all that you discern are mine. What can I do to my sons and grandchildren
Come, therefore, let us enter into a pact, so that it may be a testimony between me and you.
And so Jacob took a stone, and he set it up as a memorial
And he said to his brothers, “Bring stones.” And they, gathering together stones, made a tomb, and they ate upon it
And Laban called it, ‘Tomb of Witness,’ and Jacob, ‘Pile of Testimony;’ each of them according to the fitness of his own language
And Laban said: “This tomb will be a witness between me and you this day.” (And for this reason, its name has been called Gilead, that is, ‘Tomb of Witness.’
“May the Lord consider and judge between us, when we will have withdrawn from one another
If you afflict my daughters, and if you bring in other wives over them, no one is a witness of our words except God, who understands beforehand.
And again he said to Jacob. “Lo, this tomb and the stone that I have set up between me and you
will be a witness. This tomb,” I say, “and the stone, they are for testimony, in case either I cross beyond it going toward you, or you cross beyond it thinking to harm me
May the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Therefore, Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac
And after he had immolated sacrifices on the mountain, he called his brothers to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there
In truth, Laban rose up in the night, and he kissed his sons and daughters, and he blessed them. And he returned to his place