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Genesis 31-32
Darby Translation
Genesis 31-32
Darby Translation
31 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and of what was our father's he has acquired all this glory.
2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as previously.
3 And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the fields to his flock,
5 and said to them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as previously; 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 mocked me, and has changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8 If he said thus; The speckled shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore speckled; and if he said thus: The ringstraked shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore ringstraked.
9 And God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given [them] to me.
10 And it came to pass at the time of the ardour of the flocks, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams that leaped upon the flocks were ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
11 And the Angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob! And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see: all the rams that leap upon the flock are ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban does to thee.
13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vow to me. Now arise, depart out of this land, and return to the land of thy kindred.
14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15 Are we not reckoned of him strangers? for he has sold us, and has even constantly devoured our money.
16 For all the wealth that God has taken from our father is ours and our children's; and now whatever God has said to thee do.
17 And Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels,
18 and carried away all his cattle, and all his property that he had acquired—the cattle of his possessions that he had acquired in Padan-Aram, to go to Isaac his father, into the land of Canaan.
19 And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that [belonged] to her father.
20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he fled.
21 And he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face [toward] mount Gilead.
22 And it was told 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 overtook him on mount Gilead.
24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
25 And Laban came up with Jacob; and Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain; Laban also with his brethren pitched on mount Gilead.
26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war?
27 Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
28 and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now thou hast acted foolishly.
29 It would be in the power of my hand to do you hurt; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Take care that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
30 And now that thou must needs be gone, because thou greatly longedst after thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods?
31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, I was afraid; for I said, Lest thou shouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live. Before our brethren discern what is thine with me, and take [it] to thee. But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two handmaids' tents, and found nothing; and he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them under the camel's saddle; and she sat upon them. And Laban explored all the tent, but found nothing.
35 And she said to her father, Let it not be an occasion of anger in the eyes of my lord that I cannot rise up before thee, for it is with me after the manner of women. And he searched carefully, but did not find the teraphim.
36 And Jacob was angry, and he disputed with Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my fault, what my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37 Whereas thou hast explored all my baggage, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set [it] here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them decide between us both.
38 These twenty years have I been with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten.
39 What was torn I have not brought to thee; I had to bear the loss of it: of my hand hast thou required it, [whether] stolen by day or stolen by night.
40 Thus it was with me: in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes.
41 I have been these twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42 Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, been with me, it is certain thou wouldest have sent me away now empty. God has looked upon my affliction and the labour of my hands, and has judged last night.
43 And 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 thou seest is mine; but as for my daughters, what can I do this day to them, or to their sons whom they have brought forth?
44 And now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be a witness between me and thee.
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 ate there upon 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 thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed,
49 —and Mizpah; for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we shall be hidden one from another:
50 if thou shouldest afflict my daughters, or if thou shouldest take wives besides my daughters,—no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee!
51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee:
52 [let] this heap be witness, and the pillar a witness, that neither I pass this heap [to go] to thee, nor thou pass this heap and this pillar [to come] 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 upon the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat bread: and they ate bread, and lodged on the mountain.
55 And Laban rose early in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban went and returned to his place.
32 And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them he said, This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak to my lord, to Esau: Thy servant Jacob speaks thus—With Laban have I sojourned and tarried until now;
5 and I have oxen, and asses, sheep, and bondmen, and bondwomen; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thine eyes.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep and the cattle and the camels, into two troops.
8 And he said, If Esau come to the one troop and smite it, then the other troop which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah, who saidst unto me: Return into thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good,
10 —I am too small for all the loving-kindness and all the faithfulness that thou hast shewn unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, [and] the mother with the children.
12 And thou saidst, I will certainly deal well with thee, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And he lodged there that night; and took of what came to his hand a gift for Esau his brother—
14 two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes, and twenty rams;
15 thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses.
16 And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets thee, and asks thee, saying, Whose art thou, and where goest thou, and whose are these before thee?
18 —then thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's: it is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.
19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, According to this word shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him.
20 And, moreover, ye shall say, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will propitiate him with the gift that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face: perhaps he will accept me.
21 And the gift went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok;
23 and he took them and led them over the river, and led over what he had.
24 And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn.
25 And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh; and the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
27 And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, How is it that thou askest after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel—For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.
31 And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him; and he limped upon his hip.
32 Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh—the sinew.
Genesis 31-32
New International Version
Genesis 31-32
New International Version
Jacob Flees From Laban
31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons(A) were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”(B) 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.(C)
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back(D) to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”(E)
4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s(F) attitude toward me is not what it was before,(G) but the God of my father has been with me.(H) 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,(I) 7 yet your father has cheated(J) me by changing my wages(K) ten times.(L) However, God has not allowed him to harm me.(M) 8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’(N) then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock(O) and has given them to me.(P)
10 “In breeding season I once had a dream(Q) in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God(R) said to me in the dream,(S) ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’(T) 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted,(U) for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.(V) 13 I am the God of Bethel,(W) where you anointed a pillar(X) and where you made a vow(Y) to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.(Z)’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share(AA) in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners?(AB) Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.(AC) 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children.(AD) So do whatever God has told you.”
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives(AE) on camels,(AF) 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated(AG) in Paddan Aram,[a](AH) to go to his father Isaac(AI) in the land of Canaan.(AJ)
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep,(AK) Rachel stole her father’s household gods.(AL) 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived(AM) Laban the Aramean(AN) by not telling him he was running away.(AO) 21 So he fled(AP) with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River,(AQ) and headed for the hill country of Gilead.(AR)
Laban Pursues Jacob
22 On the third day(AS) Laban was told that Jacob had fled.(AT) 23 Taking his relatives(AU) with him(AV), he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.(AW) 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean(AX) in a dream at night and said to him,(AY) “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”(AZ)
25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead(BA) when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done?(BB) You’ve deceived me,(BC) and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.(BD) 27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me,(BE) so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels(BF) and harps?(BG) 28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye.(BH) You have done a foolish thing. 29 I have the power to harm you;(BI) but last night the God of your father(BJ) said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’(BK) 30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household.(BL) But why did you steal(BM) my gods?(BN)”
31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.(BO) 32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live.(BP) In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.(BQ)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent(BR) and into the tent of the two female servants,(BS) but he found nothing.(BT) After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods(BU) and put them inside her camel’s saddle(BV) and was sitting on them. Laban searched(BW) through everything in the tent but found nothing.
35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence;(BX) I’m having my period.(BY)” So he searched but could not find the household gods.(BZ)
36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged(CA) you that you hunt me down?(CB) 37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household?(CC) Put it here in front of your relatives(CD) and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.(CE)
38 “I have been with you for twenty years now.(CF) Your sheep and goats have not miscarried,(CG) nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen(CH) by day or night.(CI) 40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.(CJ) 41 It was like this for the twenty years(CK) I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters(CL) and six years for your flocks,(CM) and you changed my wages(CN) ten times.(CO) 42 If the God of my father,(CP) the God of Abraham(CQ) and the Fear of Isaac,(CR) had not been with me,(CS) you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,(CT) and last night he rebuked you.(CU)”
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks.(CV) All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let’s make a covenant,(CW) you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”(CX)
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.(CY) 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,(CZ) and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.[b](DA)
48 Laban said, “This heap(DB) is a witness between you and me today.”(DC) That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah,[c](DD) because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat(DE) my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness(DF) between you and me.”(DG)
51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,(DH) and here is this pillar(DI) I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,(DJ) that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap(DK) and pillar to my side to harm me.(DL) 53 May the God of Abraham(DM) and the God of Nahor,(DN) the God of their father, judge between us.”(DO)
So Jacob took an oath(DP) in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.(DQ) 54 He offered a sacrifice(DR) there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal.(DS) After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters(DT) and blessed(DU) them. Then he left and returned home.[d](DV)
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 [e]Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God(DW) met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!”(DX) So he named that place Mahanaim.[f](DY)
3 Jacob sent messengers(DZ) ahead of him to his brother Esau(EA) in the land of Seir,(EB) the country of Edom.(EC) 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord(ED) Esau: ‘Your servant(EE) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban(EF) and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.(EG) Now I am sending this message to my lord,(EH) that I may find favor in your eyes.(EI)’”
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”(EJ)
7 In great fear(EK) and distress(EL) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[g](EM) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,[h] the group[i] that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,(EN) God of my father Isaac,(EO) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’(EP) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness(EQ) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff(ER) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.(ES) 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid(ET) he will come and attack me,(EU) and also the mothers with their children.(EV) 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand(EW) of the sea, which cannot be counted.(EX)’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift(EY) for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,(EZ) 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.(FA) 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”(FB)
17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant(FC) Jacob. They are a gift(FD) sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant(FE) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts(FF) I am sending on ahead;(FG) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”(FH) 21 So Jacob’s gifts(FI) went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons(FJ) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.(FK) 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.(FL) 24 So Jacob was left alone,(FM) and a man(FN) wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip(FO) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”(FP)
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,”(FQ) he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name(FR) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[j](FS) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”(FT)
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”(FU)
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”(FV) Then he blessed(FW) him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[k] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,(FX) and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[l](FY) and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,(FZ) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Footnotes
- Genesis 31:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 31:47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap.
- Genesis 31:49 Mizpah means watchtower.
- Genesis 31:55 In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.
- Genesis 32:1 In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33.
- Genesis 32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.
- Genesis 32:7 Or camps
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
- Genesis 32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God.
- Genesis 32:30 Peniel means face of God.
- Genesis 32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel
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