Genesis 31
All 55 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
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- 1Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, who were saying, "Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father he has gained all this glory."
- 2Jacob also noticed that Laban's attitude toward him had changed and was no longer favorable like it used to be.
- 3The LORD told Jacob, "Go back to the land where your fathers lived, to your relatives, and I will be with you."
- 4So Jacob sent a message to Rachel and Leah, asking them to come out to the field where his flock was.
- 5He told them, "I can see that your father's attitude toward me is not what it once was. But the God of my father has been with me."
- 6"You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength."
- 7"Yet your father has cheated me and altered my wages ten times. But God did not allow him to harm me."
- 8"Whenever he would say, 'The speckled ones will be your payment,' then all the animals would produce speckled offspring. When he would say, 'The streaked ones will be your payment,' then all the animals would produce streaked offspring."
- 9"In this way, God has taken your father's livestock and given them to me."
- 10"During the breeding season, I had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted."
- 11"The angel of God spoke to me in that dream, saying, 'Jacob.' I replied, 'Here I am.'"
- 12"He said, 'Look up and observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you.'"
- 13"'I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now get up, leave this land, and go back to the land of your relatives.'"
- 14Rachel and Leah responded, "Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father's household?"
- 15"Doesn't he treat us like outsiders? He sold us and has completely used up the money paid for us."
- 16"All the wealth that God has taken from our father really belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do."
- 17Jacob got ready to leave, placing his children and wives on camels.
- 18He drove all his livestock ahead of him and took along all the possessions he had accumulated—the livestock he had acquired in Padanaram—to travel to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
- 19While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.
- 20Jacob fled without Laban the Syrian knowing, because he did not tell him that he was fleeing.
- 21He fled with everything he owned, crossing the river and heading toward the hill country of Gilead.
- 22On the third day, Laban was informed that Jacob had fled.
- 23Taking his relatives with him, Laban chased after Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
- 24But God appeared to Laban the Syrian in a dream that night and warned him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, whether good or bad."
- 25Laban caught up with Jacob, who had set up his tent in the hill country. Laban and his relatives also camped in the hill country of Gilead.
- 26Laban confronted Jacob, "What have you done? You slipped away without my knowledge and carried off my daughters like prisoners of war!"
- 27"Why did you run away in secret and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me so I could have sent you off with celebration, with singing, with tambourines, and with harps?"
- 28"You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye! You have acted foolishly."
- 29"I have the power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, whether good or bad.'"
- 30"I understand that you left because you desperately longed to return to your father's household. But why did you steal my gods?"
- 31Jacob answered Laban, "I left secretly because I was afraid. I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force."
- 32"As for your gods, if you find them with anyone here, that person will not live. In front of our relatives, examine everything I have and take back whatever is yours." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
- 33Laban went and searched Jacob's tent, then Leah's tent, and then the tents of the two female servants, but he did not find them. After leaving Leah's tent, he went into Rachel's tent.
- 34Rachel had taken the household idols and hidden them inside the camel's saddle, and she was sitting on them. Laban searched the entire tent but could not find them.
- 35She said to her father, "Please don't be angry, my lord, that I am unable to stand up in your presence. I am having my monthly period." So he searched but did not find the idols.
- 36Then Jacob became angry and confronted Laban. He demanded, "What wrong have I done? What is my sin that you have pursued me so aggressively?"
- 37"You have gone through all my belongings—what have you found that belongs to your household? Place it here in front of my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us."
- 38"For twenty years I have been with you. Your female sheep and goats never lost their young, and I never ate the rams from your flock."
- 39"When an animal was killed by wild beasts, I never brought it to you as an excuse. I bore the loss myself. You demanded payment from me for every stolen animal, whether taken during the day or at night."
- 40"This is how it was for me: the scorching heat consumed me during the day, and the freezing cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes."
- 41"This is how I spent twenty years in your household. I worked fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your livestock, and you changed my wages ten times."
- 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away with nothing. God saw my suffering and the hard work of my hands, and He rebuked you last night.
- 43Laban replied to Jacob, "These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, these flocks are my flocks—everything you see belongs to me. Yet what can I do today about my own daughters or the children they have given birth to?"
- 44So now, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between us.
- 45Jacob picked up a stone and set it upright as a pillar.
- 46Then Jacob told his relatives, "Collect stones." So they gathered stones and made a pile, and they ate a meal there beside the pile.
- 47Laban named the place Jegarsahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.
- 48Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore it was named Galeed.
- 49It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are separated from each other."
- 50"If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women in addition to my daughters, even though no one else is around to see, remember that God is a witness between you and me."
- 51Laban also said to Jacob, "Look at this pile of stones and look at this pillar that I have placed between us."
- 52"This pile is a testimony, and this pillar is a testimony, that I will not cross beyond this pile toward you, and you will not cross beyond this pile and this pillar toward me, to cause harm."
- 53May 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.
- 54Jacob then offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to share a meal. They ate together and spent the night on the mountain.
- 55Early the next morning, Laban got up, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left and went back home.