Barashyt(Genesis) — 31

1 But Ya'aqub soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him. Ya'aqub has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.” 

2 And Ya'aqub began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.

3 Then 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH said to Ya'aqub, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.”

4 So Ya'aqub called Rach'al and La'ah out to the field where he was watching his flock. 

5 He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of my father has been with me. 

6 You know how hard I have worked for your father, 

7 but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has not allowed him to do me any harm. 

8 For if he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young. 

9 In this way, 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.

10 “One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 

11 Then in my dream, the Malak of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH said to me, Ya'aqub!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’

12 “The Malak said, ‘Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. For I have seen how Laban has treated you. 

13 I am the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH who appeared to you at Bath'al, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth.’”

14 Rach'al and La'ah responded, “That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway. 

15 He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he wasted the money you paid him for us. 

16 All the wealth 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has told you.”

17 So Ya'aqub put his wives and children on camels, 

18 and he drove all his livestock in front of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land of Canaan, where his father, Yachaq, lived. 

19 At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rach'al stole her father’s household idols and took them with her. 

20 Ya'aqub outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out secretly and never told Laban they were leaving. 

21 So Ya'aqub took all his possessions with him and crossed the Auphrates River, heading for the hill country of Gilead.

22 Three days later, Laban was told that Ya'aqub had fled. 

23 So he gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Ya'aqub seven days later in the hill country of Gilead. 

24 But the previous night 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you—leave Ya'aqub alone!”

25 Laban caught up with Ya'aqub as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead, and he set up his camp not far from Ya'aqub’s. 

26 “What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war? 

27 Why did you slip away secretly? Why did you deceive me? And why didn’t you say you wanted to leave? I would have given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps. 

28 Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren and tell them good-bye? You have acted very foolishly! 

29 I could destroy you, but the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of your father appeared to me last night and warned me, ‘Leave Ya'aqub alone!’ 

30 I can understand your feeling that you must go, and your intense longing for your father’s home. But why have you stolen my idols?”

31 “I rushed away because I was afraid,” Ya'aqub answered. “I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. 

32 But as for your idols, see if you can find them, and let the person who has taken them die! And if you find anything else that belongs to you, identify it before all these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!” But Ya'aqub did not know that Rach'al had stolen the household idols.

33 Laban went first into Ya'aqub’s tent to search there, then into La'ah’s, and then the tents of the two servant wives—but he found nothing. Finally, he went into Rach'al’s tent. 

34 But Rach'al had taken the household idols and hidden them in her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on them. When Laban had thoroughly searched her tent without finding them, 

35 she said to her father, “Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you. I’m having my monthly period.” So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.

36 Then Ya'aqub became very angry, and he challenged Laban. “What’s my crime?” he demanded. “What have I done wrong to make you chase after me as though I were a criminal? 

37 You have rummaged through everything I own. Now show me what you found that belongs to you! Set it out here in front of us, before our relatives, for all to see. Let them judge between us!

38 “For twenty years I have been with you, caring for your flocks. In all that time your sheep and goats never miscarried. In all those years I never used a single ram of yours for food. 

39 If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, I never showed you the carcass and asked you to reduce the count of your flock. No, I took the loss myself! You made me pay for every stolen animal, whether it was taken in broad daylight or in the dark of night.

40 “I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through cold and sleepless nights. 

41 Yes, for twenty years I slaved in your house! I worked for fourteen years earning your two daughters, and then six more years for your flock. And you changed my wages ten times! 

42 In fact, if the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of my father had not been on my side—the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Abraham and the fearsome 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yachaq, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has seen your abuse and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and rebuked you!”

43 Then Laban replied to Ya'aqub, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks—in fact, everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and their children? 

44 So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”

45 So Ya'aqub took a stone and set it up as a monument. 

46 Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.” So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Ya'aqub and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal. 

47 To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Yagar-sahadutha (which means “witness pile” in Aramaic), and called it Galaad (which means “witness pile” in Abary_Hebrew).

48 Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.” This explains why it was called Galaad—“Witness Pile.” 

49 But it was also called Mizpah (which means “watchtower”), for Laban said, “May 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH keep watch between us to make sure that we keep this covenant when we are out of each other’s sight. 

50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you marry other wives, 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH will see it even if no one else does. He is a witness to this covenant between us.

51 “See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. 

52 They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. 

53 I call on the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of our ancestors, the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of your grandfather Abraham and the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of my grandfather Nahur to serve as a judge between us.” So Ya'aqub took an oath before the fearsome 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of his father, Yachaq, to respect the boundary line. 

54 Then Ya'aqub offered a sacrifice to 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH there on the mountain and invited everyone to a covenant feast. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

55 Laban got up early the next morning, and he kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and Baraked them. Then he left and returned home.