- And Jacob heard the words of the sons
of Laban, saying, Jacob has taken all that
was our father's, and of our father's property
has he gotten all this glory.
- And Jacob
saw the countenance of Laban, and behold
it was not toward him as [a] before.
- And
the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land
of thy father, and to thy family, and I will
be with thee.
- And Jacob sent and called
Lea and Rachel to the plain where the
flocks were.
- And he said to them, I see
the face of your father, that it is not toward
me as before, but the God of my father was
with me.
- And ye too know that with all
my might I have served your father.
- But
your father deceived me, and changed my
wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him
not power to hurt me.
- If he should say
thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then
all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he
should say, The white shall be thy reward,
then would all the cattle bear white.
- So
God has taken away all the cattle of your
father, and given them to me.
- And it
came to pass when the cattle conceived and
were with young, that I beheld with mine
eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and
the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats,
speckled and variegated and spotted
with ash-coloured spots.
- And the angel
of God said to me [b] in a dream, Jacob; and
I said, What is it?
- And he said, Look up
with thine eyes, and behold the he-goats and
the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats,
speckled and variegated and spotted
with ash-coloured spots; for I have seen all
things that Laban does to thee.
- I am God
that appeared to thee in the place of God,
where thou anointedst a pillar to me, and
vowedst to me there a vow; now then arise
and depart out of this land, depart into the
land of thy nativity, and I will be with thee.
- And Rachel and Lea answered and said to
him, Have we yet a part or inheritance in
the house of our father?
- Are we not considered
strangers by him? for he has sold
us, and quite devoured our money.
- All
the wealth and the glory which God has
taken from our father, it shall be our's and
our children's; now then do whatsoever
God has said to thee.
- And Jacob arose
and took his wives and his children up on
the camels;
- and he took away all his
possessions and all his store, which he had
gotten in Mesopotamia, and all that belonged
to him, to depart to Isaac his father
in the land of Chanaan.
- And Laban went
to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole her
father's images.
- And Jacob hid the matter
from Laban the Syrian, so as not to tell him
that he ran away.
- And he departed himself
and all that belonged to him, and passed
over the river, and went into the mountain
Galaad.
- But it was told Laban the Syrian
on the third day, that Jacob was fled.
- And having taken his brethren with him,
he pursued after him seven days' journey,
and overtook him on Mount Galaad.
- And God came to Laban the Syrian in
sleep by night, and said to him, Take heed
to thyself that thou speak not at any time
to Jacob evil things.
- And Laban overtook
Jacob; and Jacob pitched his tent in the
mountain; and Laban stationed his brothers
in the mount Galaad.
- And Laban said
to Jacob, What hast thou done? wherefore
didst thou run away secretly, and pillage
me, and lead away my daughters as captives
taken with the sword?
- Whereas if thou
hadst told me, I would have sent thee away
with mirth, and with songs, and timbrels,
and harp.
- And I was not counted worthy
to embrace my children and my daughters;
now then thou hast wrought foolishly.
- And now my hand has power to hurt thee;
but the God of thy father spoke to me
yesterday, saying, Take heed to thyself that
thou speak not evil words to Jacob.
- Now
then go on thy way, for thou hast earnestly
desired to depart to the house of thy father;
wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
- And
Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because
I was afraid; for I said, Lest at any time
thou shouldest take away thy daughters
from me, and all my possessions.
- And
Jacob said, With whomsoever thou shalt
find thy gods, he shall not live in the presence
of our brethren; take notice of what
I have of thy property, and take it; and he
observed nothing with him, but Jacob knew
not that his wife Rachel had stolen them.
- And Laban went in and searched in the
house of Lea, and found them not; and
he went out of the house of Lea, and
searched in the house of Jacob, and in the
house of the two maid-servants, and found
them not; and he went also into the house
of Rachel.
- And Rachel took the idols,
and cast them among the camel's packs,
and sat upon them.
- And she said to her
father, Be not indignant, Sir; I cannot rise
up before thee, for it is with me according
to the manner of women. Laban searched
in all the house, and found not the images.
- And Jacob was angry, and strove with
Laban; and Jacob answered and said to
Laban, What is my injustice, and what
my sin, that thou hast pursued after me,
- and
that thou hast searched all the furniture of
my house? what hast thou found of all the
furniture of thine house? set it here between
thy relations and my relations, and let them
decide between us two.
- These twenty years
have I been with thee; thy sheep, and thy she-goats
have not failed in bearing; I devoured
not the rams of thy cattle.
- That which was
taken of beasts I brought not to thee; I made
good of myself the thefts of the day, and the
thefts of the night.
- I was parched with heat
by day, and chilled with frost by night, and
my sleep departed from my eyes.
- These
twenty years have I been in thy house; I
served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters,
and six years among thy sheep, and thou
didst falsely rate my wages for ten lambs.
- Unless I had the God of my father Abraam,
and the fear of Isaac, now thou wouldest have
sent me away empty; God saw my
humiliation, and the labour of my hands,
and rebuked thee yesterday.
- And Laban answered and said to Jacob,
The daughters are my daughters, and the
sons my sons, and the cattle are my cattle,
and all things which thou seest are mine,
and the property of my daughters; what shall
I do to them to-day, or their children which
they bore?
- Now then come, let me make
a covenant, both I and thou, and it shall be
for a witness between me and thee; and he
said to him, Behold, there is no one with us;
behold, God is witness between me and thee.
- And Jacob having taken a stone, set it up
for a pillar.
- And Jacob said to his brethren,
Gather stones; and they gathered stones
and made a heap, and ate there upon the
heap; and Laban said to him, This heap witnesses
between me and thee to-day.
- And
Laban called it, the Heap of Testimony; and
Jacob called it, the Witness Heap.
- And
Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and
the pillar, which I have set between me and
thee; this heap witnesses, and this pillar
witnesses; therefore its name was called, the
Heap witnesses.
- And the vision of which
he said -- Let God look to it between me and
thee, because we are about to depart from each
other, --
- If thou shalt humble my
daughters, if thou shouldest take wives in
addition to my daughters, see, there is no
one with us looking on. God is witness between
me and thee.
- And Laban said to
Jacob, Behold, this heap, and this pillar are
a witness.
- For if I should not cross over
unto thee, neither shouldest thou cross over
to me, for mischief beyond this heap and
this pillar.
- The God of Abraam and the
God of Nachor judge between us; and
Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
- And he offered a sacrifice in the mountain,
and called his brethren, and they ate and
drank, and slept in the mountain.
- And
Laban rose up in the morning, and kissed
his sons and his daughters, and blessed them;
and Laban having turned back, departed to
his place.
[a] Gr. yesterday and the day before.
Hebraism.
[b] Lit. in sleep.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]