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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Genesis 31</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//genesis/31-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/genesis/">Genesis</a> > Genesis 31</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/30.htm" title="Genesis 30">◄</a> Genesis 31 <a href="../genesis/32.htm" title="Genesis 32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/genesis/31.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/genesis/31.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/genesis/31.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/genesis/31.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/genesis/31.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/genesis/31.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/genesis/31.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Jacob Flees from Laban<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.” <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed. <A name="4"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” <A name="5"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were, <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>You know that I have served your father with all my strength. <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me. <A name="9"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. <A name="11"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>In that dream the angel<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ <p class="reg"> And I replied, ‘Here I am.’ <A name="13"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’<span class="thinq"> </span>” <A name="15"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house? <A name="16"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us. <A name="17"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.” <A name="18"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels, <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan. <A name="20"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. <A name="21"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Moreover, Jacob deceived<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">c</a></span> Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was running away. <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">d</a></span> and headed for the hill country of Gilead. <A name="23"></a><p class="hdg">Laban Pursues Jacob<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled. <A name="24"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” <A name="26"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well. <A name="27"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war! <A name="28"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps. <A name="29"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing. <A name="30"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ <A name="31"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?” <A name="32"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>“I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. <A name="33"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols. <A name="34"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. <A name="35"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing. <A name="36"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols. <A name="37"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me? <A name="38"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>You have searched all my goods! Have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us. <A name="39"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. <A name="40"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. <A name="41"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. <A name="42"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times! <A name="43"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.” <A name="44"></a><p class="hdg">Jacob’s Covenant with Laban<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span>But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne? <A name="45"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-44.htm"><b>44</b></a></span>Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.” <A name="46"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-45.htm"><b>45</b></a></span>So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar, <A name="47"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-46.htm"><b>46</b></a></span>and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate. <A name="48"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-47.htm"><b>47</b></a></span>Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">e</a></span> <A name="49"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-48.htm"><b>48</b></a></span>Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” <p class="reg"> Therefore the place was called Galeed. <A name="50"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-49.htm"><b>49</b></a></span>It was also called Mizpah,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">f</a></span> because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other. <A name="51"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-50.htm"><b>50</b></a></span>If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.” <A name="52"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-51.htm"><b>51</b></a></span>Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is the mound, and here is the pillar I have set up between you and me. <A name="53"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-52.htm"><b>52</b></a></span>This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me. <A name="54"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-53.htm"><b>53</b></a></span>May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” <p class="reg"> So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. <A name="55"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-54.htm"><b>54</b></a></span>Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain. <span class="reftext"><a href="/genesis/31-55.htm"><b>55</b></a></span>Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Or <i>Angel</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> That is, northwest Mesopotamia<br><span class="fnverse">20</span> <span class="footnotesbot">c</span> Or <i>stole the heart of</i><span class="thin"> </span>; also in verses 26 and 27<br><span class="fnverse">21</span> <span class="footnotesbot">d</span> Hebrew <i>the River</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">47</span> <span class="footnotesbot">e</span> The Aramaic <i>Jegar-Sahadutha</i><span class="thin"> </span> and the Hebrew <i>Galeed</i><span class="thin"> </span> both mean <i>heap of witnesses</i><span class="thin"> </span>.<br><span class="fnverse">49</span> <span class="footnotesbot">f</span> <i>Mizpah</i><span class="thin"> </span> means <i>watchtower</i><span class="thin"> </span>.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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