Laban in the Bible

And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, to the well.

"Come on," Laban said. "The LORD has blessed you! So why are you standing out here when I've prepared some space in the house and a place for the camels?"

So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.”

And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from Jehovah: we cannot speak to thee bad or good.

And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran;

Arise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and take a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

And he said to them, Do ye know Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We do know him.

And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of Laban his mother's brother.

And it came to pass when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house; and he told Laban all these things.

And Laban said to him, Thou art indeed my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him a month's time.

And Laban said to Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou serve me for nothing? tell me, what shall be thy wages?

And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger, Rachel.

Jacob loved Rachel, so he made this offer to Laban: "I'll serve you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.

And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.

And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

That night Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. He had marital relations with her.

And Laban gave to her Zilpah, his maidservant, to be maidservant to Leah his daughter.

And it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done to me? Have I not served thee for Rachel? Why then hast thou deceived me?

And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn.

So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife.

And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, Bilhah, his maidservant, to be her maidservant.

So Jacob consummated his marriage and lived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my country.

And Laban said to him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes I have discovered that Jehovah has blessed me for thy sake.

Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

But Jacob replied to Laban, "You know how I've served you and how your cattle thrived under my care.

Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:

And Laban said, Well, let it be according to thy word.

So on that same day Laban [secretly] removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one with white on it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.

And he put three days' journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock.

Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches.

And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he made himself separate flocks, and did not put them with Laban's flock.

but when the sheep were feeble, he put them not in; so the feeble were Laban's, and the strong Jacob's.

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.

And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as previously.

"When Laban said, "The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flock gave birth to speckled ones. Then when he said, "The streaked ones will be your wages,' all the flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

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.

And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that belonged to her father.

And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he fled.

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

so he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob. Laban was on the road for seven days when he finally caught up with Jacob in the hill country of Gilead.

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.

And Laban came up with Jacob; and Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain; Laban also with his brethren pitched on mount Gilead.

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war?

And Jacob answered and said to Laban, I was afraid; for I said, Lest thou shouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

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.

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.

Then Rachel told her father, "Sir, please don't be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence. It's that time of the month." So Laban searched for the idols, but never did find them.

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?

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?

And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed,

and Mizpah (watchtower), for Laban said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another.

And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee:

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.

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;

There [are] the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob--sixteen persons.

These [are] the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob--seven persons in all.