They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you:

You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.”

On that same day Isaac’s slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!”

And he saith, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have become aged, I have not known the day of my death;

and make for me tasteful things, such as I have loved, and bring in to me, and I do eat, so that my soul doth bless thee before I die.'

and Rebekah hath spoken unto Jacob her son, saying, 'Lo, I have heard thy father speaking unto Esau thy brother, saying,

So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you.

And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal and give you his blessing before his death.

"But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin!

it may be my father doth feel me, and I have been in his eyes as a deceiver, and have brought upon me disesteem, and not a blessing;'

Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah your God brought it to me.

And he hath not discerned him, for his hands have been hairy, as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blesseth him,

Then Isaac trembled with exceeding great trembling, and said, Who was he, then, that hunted venison and brought it to me? And I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him; also blessed he shall be.

So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

Then Isaac his father answered and said unto him, "Behold, thy dwelling place shall have of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.

And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

And Rebekah saith unto Isaac, 'I have been disgusted with my life because of the presence of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these -- from the daughters of the land -- why do I live?'

May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident."

and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.

Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

when I have turned back in peace unto the house of my father, and Jehovah hath become my God,

This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.”

(When thither have all the droves been gathered, and they have rolled the stone from off the mouth of the well, and have watered the flock, then they have turned back the stone on the mouth of the well to its place.)

And he saith to them, 'Have ye known Laban, son of Nahor?' and they say, 'We have known.'

But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

Now Laban happened to have two daughters. The older one was named Leah and the younger was named Rachel.

And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another man: go on living here with me.

Finally Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. I want to have marital relations with her."

When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”

And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.

She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi.

And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali.

When it was clear to Leah that she would have no more children for a time, she gave Zilpah, her servant, to Jacob as a wife.

Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune).

and Leah said, For my happiness, surely happy have daughters pronounced me. So she called his name, Asher.

Now at the time of the grain-cutting, Reuben saw some love-fruits in the field, and took them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to her, Let me have some of your son's love-fruits.

But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.

And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maidservant to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.

“God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun.

Then God remembered [the prayers of] Rachel, and God thought of her and opened her womb [so that she would conceive].

Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

So Jacob said to him, “You know what I have done for you and your herds.

Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?"

"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked.

Jacob responded, "You don't have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it. Let me walk among your flocks today and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, along with every black lamb, and let me do the same with the speckled and spotted goats. These will be my wages.

In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”

“Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

and when the flock is feeble, he doth not set them; and the feeble ones have been Laban's, and the strong ones Jacob's.

Thus did the man break forth, exceedingly, - thus came he to have flocks in abundance, and maid-servants, and men-servants and camels and asses.

And you know that with all my power I have served your father.

If he said, All those in the flock which have marks are to be yours, then all the flock gave birth to marked young; and if he said, All the banded ones are to be yours, then all the flock had banded young.

And He said, ‘Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s household?

have we not been reckoned strangers to him? for he hath sold us, and he also utterly consumeth our money;

And Laban overtaketh Jacob; and Jacob hath fixed his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren have fixed theirs in the mount of Gilead.

Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war!

Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres,

but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly.

I have the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, 'Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.'

Now you have gone off because you long for your father—but why have you stolen my gods?”

Jacob answered, and said to Laban, "Because I was afraid, and thought that thou wouldest have taken away thy daughters from me.

Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me?

You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us.

I’ve been with you these 20 years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock.

What was torn I have not brought to thee; I had to bear the loss of it: of my hand hast thou required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

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

For 20 years I have worked in your household—14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages 10 times!

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and He issued His verdict last night.”

Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne?

So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."

Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me.

He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now.

I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”

When the servants came back they said, We have seen your brother Esau and he is coming out to you, and four hundred men with him.

and saith, 'If Esau come in unto the one camp, and have smitten it -- then the camp which is left hath been for an escape.'

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.

Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me -- mother beside sons;

You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

then you must say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. In fact Jacob himself is behind us.'"

and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob is behind us;' for he said, 'I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;'

Then said he - Let me go, for uprisen hath the dawn. And he said: I will not let thee go, except thou have blessed me

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” He said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Jacob then named the place Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.”

Then said he, What to thee is all this camp, which I have fallen in with? And he said, - To find favour in the eyes of my lord.

“I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”

But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me.

Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing sheep and cattle. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die.

But Shechem’s father Hamor went to Jacob to talk with him.

Just then Jacob's sons arrived from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were distraught with grief and livid with anger toward Shechem, because he had committed a disgraceful deed in Israel by forcing Jacob's daughter to have sex, an act that never should have happened.

and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade in it, and have possessions in it.'

However great you make the bride-price and payment, I will give it; only let me have the girl for my wife.

'Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised,