¹ Then heard he the words of the sons of Laban, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that belonged to our father; Yea out of what belonged to our father, hath he made all this wealth.

² And Jacob looked upon the face of Laban,—and lo! it was not with him as afore-time.

³ Then said Yahweh unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred,—that I may be with thee.

⁴ So Jacob sent, and called for Rachel and for Leah, to the field unto his flock;

⁵ and said to them, Beholding, am I the face of your father, that it is not towards me as aforetime,—nevertheless, the God of my father, hath been with me;

⁶ and, ye, know that with all my vigour, have I served your father.

⁷ But, your father, hath deceived me, and hath changed my wages ten times,—yet God hath not suffered him to deal harmfully with me.

⁸ If thus he saith, The speckled, shall be thy wages, then do all the flock bring forth speckled,—But if thus he saith, The ring-straked, shall be thy wages, then do all the flock bring forth ring-straked.

⁹ So hath God stripped away the herds of your father, and given them to me.

¹⁰ And it came to pass in the season when the flock were in heat, then lifted I mine eyes and beheld in a dream,—and lo! the he-goats that were leaping upon the flock, were ring-straked speckled and dappled.

¹¹ And the messenger of God said unto me in a dream, Jacob! and I said, Behold me!

¹² Then he said Lift, I pray thee, thine eyes and behold All, the he-goats that are leaping upon the flock are ring-straked, speckled, and dappled,—for I have seen all that Laban, has been doing to thee.

¹³ I, am the GOD of Beth-el, where thou didst anoint a pillar, where thou didst vow to me a vow,—Now, rise, go forth out of this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

¹⁴ Then responded Rachel and Leah, and said to him,—Have we any longer a portion or an inheritance in the house of our father?

¹⁵ Are we not accounted, aliens, to him seeing that having sold us, he hath then gone on devouring, our silver?

¹⁶ Surely all the riches which God hath stripped off from our father, unto us, it belongeth, and unto our sons,—Now, therefore, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

¹⁷ So Jacob arose,—and mounted his sons and his wives on the camels;

¹⁸ and drave away all his herds and all his goods which he had gathered, the gains he had gained, which he had gathered in Padan-aram; that he might go in unto Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ Now, Laban, had gone, to shear his sheep,—so Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father,

²⁰ Thus Jacob stole away unawares to Laban, the Syrian,—in that he had not told him that he was about to flee.

²¹ So he fled, he—and all that he had, and he arose, and passed over the River,—and set his face towards the mountain of Gilead.

²² And it was told Laban, on the third day,—that Jacob had fled.

²³ So he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him a journey of seven days—and overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.

²⁴ And God went in unto Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night,—and said to him Take heed to thyself that thou speak not with Jacob either good or bad.

²⁵ So then Laban came up with Jacob,—Jacob, having pitched his tent in the mountain, Laban, also, with his brethren pitched in the mountain of Gilead.

²⁶ Then said Laban to Jacob, What hadst thou done, that thou shouldst steal away unawares to me,—and shouldst carry off my daughters, as captives of the sword?

²⁷ Wherefore didst thou secretly flee, and rob me,—and didst not tell me, that I might send thee away with rejoicing and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre;

²⁸ and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now, hast thou done, foolishly.

²⁹ It is in the power of my hand, to deal with thee for harm,—but the God of your father, last night, spake unto me, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not with Jacob, either good or bad.

³⁰ But, now, though thou, didst even take thy journey, because thou, didst sorely long, for the house of thy father, wherefore didst thou steal away my gods?

³¹ And Jacob answered and said unto Laban,—Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest thou take by force thy daughters from me!

³² He with whom thou find thy gods, shall not live! Before our brethren, note thou for thyself what is with me and take what is thine. Neither did Jacob know that, Rachel, had stolen them.

³³ Then entered Laban into the tent of Jacob and into the tent of Leah and into the tent of the two handmaids, and found nothing,—then went he forth out of the tent of Leah, and entered into the tent of Rachel.

³⁴ Now Rachel, had taken the household gods and put them in the basket-saddle of the camel, and taken her seat upon them. And Laban felt about throughout all the tent, and found them not.

³⁵ And she said unto her father, Let it not be vexing in the eyes of my lord that I cannot rise up at thy presence, for, the way of women, is upon me. So he made search, but found not the household gods,

³⁶ And it was vexing to Jacob and he contended with Laban,—and Jacob responded and said to Laban, What was my trespass, what my sin, that thou shouldst have come burning after me?

³⁷ Now that thou hast felt about among all my goods, what hast thou found of the goods of thine own house? Set it out here, right before my brethren and thy brethren,—that they may give sentence betwixt us two.

³⁸ This twenty years’ time, have, I, been with thee—Thy ewes and thy she-goats, have not cast their young,—And the rams of thy flock, have I not eaten,

³⁹ The torn, have I not brought in unto thee—I bare the loss, At my hand, didst thou require it,—Stolen by day, or stolen by night.

⁴⁰ Thus have I been—By day, drought hath consumed me, And, frost, by, night,—So that my sleep fled away from mine eyes.

⁴¹ This, hath been my lot twenty years in thy house,—I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, And six years for thy sheep—And thou didst change my wages ten times:—

⁴² But that the God of my father—The God of Abraham, and the Dread of Isaac—Proved to be mine, Surely even now, empty, hadst thou let me go? My humiliation and the wearying toil of my hands, God had seen, And therefore gave sentence last night!

⁴³ Then responded Laban and said unto Jacob—the daughters, are my daughters, And the sons, are my sons, And the sheep are my sheep, And, all that, thou, beholdest, To me doth it belong! But to my daughters, what can I do to these this day, Or to their sons whom they have borne?