GENESIS Chapter 31
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31:1 Jacob heard
that Laban's sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything that belonged
to our father. He got all his wealth from what our father owned." |
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31:2 He also saw
that Laban was no longer as friendly as he had been earlier. |
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31:3 Then the LORD
said to him, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives.
I will be with you." |
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31:4 So Jacob sent
word to Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where his flocks were. |
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31:5 He said to
them, "I have noticed that your father is not as friendly toward me as
he used to be; but my father's God has been with me. |
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31:6 You both know
that I have worked for your father with all my strength. |
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31:7 Yet he has
cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not let him harm me. |
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31:8
Whenever Laban
said, 'The speckled goats shall be your wages,' all the flocks produced
speckled young. When he said, 'The striped goats shall be your wages,' all
the flocks produced striped young. |
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31:9 God has taken
flocks away from your father and given them to me. |
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31:10 "During
the breeding season I had a dream, and I saw that the male goats that were
mating were striped, spotted, and speckled. |
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31:11 The angel of
God spoke to me in the dream and said, 'Jacob!' 'Yes,' I answered. |
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31:12 'Look,' he
continued, 'all the male goats that are mating are striped, spotted, and
speckled. I am making this happen because I have seen all that Laban is doing
to you. |
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31:13 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you
dedicated a stone as a memorial by pouring olive oil on it and where you made
a vow to me. Now get ready and go back to the land where you were born.'
" |
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31:14 Rachel and
Leah answered Jacob, "There is nothing left for us to inherit from our
father. |
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31:15 He treats us like
foreigners. He sold us, and now he has spent all the money he was paid for
us. |
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31:16 All this
wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children.
Do whatever God has told you." |
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31:17
So Jacob
got ready to go back to his father in the land of Canaan. He put his children
and his wives on the camels, and drove all his flocks ahead of him, with
everything that he had gotten in Mesopotamia. |
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31:18 (SEE 31:17)
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31:19 Laban had gone
to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods
that belonged to her father. |
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31:20 Jacob deceived
Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving. |
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31:21 He took
everything he owned and left in a hurry. He crossed the Euphrates River and
started for the hill country of Gilead. |
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31:22 Three days
later Laban was told that Jacob had fled. |
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31:23 He took his
men with him and pursued Jacob for seven days until he caught up with him in
the hill country of Gilead. |
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31:24 In a dream
that night God came to Laban and said to him, "Be careful not to
threaten Jacob in any way." |
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31:25 Jacob had set
up his camp on a mountain, and Laban set up his camp with his relatives in
the hill country of Gilead. |
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31:26 Laban said to Jacob,
"Why did you deceive me and carry off my daughters like women captured
in war? |
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31:27 Why did you
deceive me and slip away without telling me? If you had told me, I would have
sent you on your way with rejoicing and singing to the music of tambourines
and harps. |
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31:28 You did not
even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters
good-bye. That was a foolish thing to do! |
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31:29 I have the
power to do you harm, but last night the God of your father warned me not to
threaten you in any way. |
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31:30 I know that you left because you were so anxious to get
back home, but why did you steal my household gods?" |
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31:31 Jacob
answered, "I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your
daughters away from me. |
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31:32 But if you
find that anyone here has your gods, he will be put
to death. Here, with our men as witnesses, look for anything that belongs to
you and take what is yours." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen
Laban's gods. |
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31:33 Laban went and
searched Jacob's tent; then he went into Leah's tent, and the tent of the two
slave women, but he did not find his gods. Then he went into Rachel's tent. |
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31:34 Rachel had
taken the household gods and put them in a camel's saddlebag and was sitting
on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but did not find them. |
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31:35 Rachel said to
her father, "Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up
in your presence; I am having my monthly period." Laban searched but did
not find his household gods. |
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31:36
Then Jacob
lost his temper. "What crime have I committed?" he asked angrily.
"What law have I broken that gives you the right to hunt me down? |
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31:37 Now that you
have searched through all my belongings, what household article have you
found that belongs to you? Put it out here where your men and mine can see
it, and let them decide which one of us is right. |
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31:38 I have been
with you now for twenty years; your sheep and your goats have not failed to
reproduce, and I have not eaten any rams from your flocks. |
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31:39 Whenever a
sheep was killed by wild animals, I always bore the loss myself. I didn't
take it to you to show that it was not my fault. You demanded that I make
good anything that was stolen during the day or during the night. |
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31:40 Many times I
suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was not
able to sleep. |
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31:41 It was like
that for the whole twenty years I was with you. For fourteen years I worked
to win your two daughters---and six years for your flocks. And even then, you
changed my wages ten times. |
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31:42 If the God of
my fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac, had not been with me, you would
have already sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my trouble and the
work I have done, and last night he gave his judgment." |
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31:43 Laban answered
Jacob, "These young women are my daughters; their children belong to me,
and these flocks are mine. In fact, everything you see here belongs to me.
But since I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children, |
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31:44 I am ready to
make an agreement with you. Let us make a pile of stones to remind us of our
agreement." |
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31:45
So Jacob
got a stone and set it up as a memorial. |
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31:46 He told his
men to gather some rocks and pile them up. Then they ate a meal beside the
pile of rocks. |
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31:47 Laban named it
Jegar Sahadutha, while
Jacob named it Galeed. |
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31:48 Laban said to
Jacob, "This pile of rocks will be a reminder for both of us." That
is why that place was named Galeed. |
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31:49 Laban also said, "May the LORD keep an eye on us while we are
separated from each other." So the place was also named Mizpah. |
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31:50 Laban went on,
"If you mistreat my daughters or if you marry other women, even though I
don't know about it, remember that God is watching us. |
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31:51 Here are the
rocks that I have piled up between us, and here is the memorial stone. |
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31:52 Both this pile
and this memorial stone are reminders. I will never go beyond this pile to
attack you, and you must never go beyond it or beyond this memorial stone to
attack me. |
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31:53
The God of Abraham
and the God of Nahor will judge between us."
Then, in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshiped, Jacob solemnly
vowed to keep this promise. |
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31:54 He killed an
animal, which he offered as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his
men to the meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain. |
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31:55 Early the next
morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters good-bye, and left
to go back home. |
CHAPTER ENDS
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