Genesis 31:36-55 - Jacob's Covenant With Laban
36 Jacob lost his temper. What crime have I committed? he asked angrily. What law have I broken that gives you the right to hunt me down? 37 Now that you have searched through all my belongings, what household article have you found that belongs to you? Put it out here where your men and mine can see it. Let them decide which one of us is right. 38 I have been with you now for twenty years. Your sheep and your goats have not failed to reproduce. I have not even eaten any rams from your flocks. 39 I always absorbed the loss when wild animals killed a sheep. I did not take it to you to show that it was not my fault. You demanded that I make good anything that was stolen during the day or during the night. 40 Many times I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was not able to sleep. 41 I have been in your house twenty years! I was your servant for fourteen years because of your daughters. I kept your flock for six years. You changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, out of respect for Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed by now. God has seen my misery and hard work. Last night he made it right!
43 Then Laban answered Jacob: These are my daughters, my grandchildren, and my flocks. Everything you see is mine! Yet, what can I do today for my daughters or for their children? 44 Now, let us make an agreement (covenant) and let it stand as a witness between you and me.
45 Jacob took a stone and set it up as a marker. 46 Jacob said to his relatives: Gather some stones. They took stones, put them into a pile, and ate there by the pile of stones. 47 In his language, Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha (Witness Pile), but Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Laban said: This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today. This is why it was named Galeed, 49 and also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women behind my back, remember that God stands as a witness between you and me. 51 Laban also said to Jacob: Here is the pile of stones. Here is the marker that I have set up between you and me. 52 This pile of stones and this marker stand as witnesses that I will not go past the pile of stones to harm you, and that you will not go past the pile of stones or marker to harm me. 53 May the God of Abraham and Nahor the God of their father judge between us. So Jacob swore this oath out of respect for his father Isaac. 54 He offered a sacrifice on the mountain. He invited his relatives to eat the meal with him. They ate with him and spent the night on the mountain. 55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban left and went back home.