until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?"

Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham."

Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah's brother, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,"

and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram.

Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.

He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.

Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.

Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."

Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on,

so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the LORD will be my God,

then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you."

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.

Jacob said to them, "My relatives, where are you from?" They said, "We are from Haran."

He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?" They said, "We know him."

He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep."

He said, "Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them."

They said, "We can't, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep."

It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things.

Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month.

Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"

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

Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me."

Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

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

It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her.

Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid.

It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"

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

Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid.

He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

She conceived again, and bore a son. Said, "Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore was his name called Levi.

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I will die."

She said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her."

She gave him Bilhah her handmaid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

She said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes, also?" Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."

Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." He lay with her that night.

God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Leah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." She named him Issachar.

Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.

She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD add another son to me."

It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.

Laban said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that the LORD has blessed me for your sake."

He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.

For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. The LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?"

He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.

Laban said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word."

That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink.

The LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock,

and said to them, "I see the expression on your father's face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

Thus God has taken away your father's livestock, and given them to me.

The angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'

He said, 'Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.'"

Aren't we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money.

For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do."

and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's.

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

God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Take heed to yourself that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad."

Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword?

and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly.

It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Take heed to yourself that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.'

Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?"

Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he did not find them. He went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.

She said to her father, "Do not let my lord be angry that I can't rise up before you; for the manner of women is on me." He searched, but did not find the teraphim.

Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.

These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven't eaten the rams of your flocks.

That which was torn of animals, I did not bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.

These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Laban answered Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?

Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap.

Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and you this day." Therefore it was named Galeed

Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you.

May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.

Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain.

Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.

Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.'"

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him."

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

and he said, "If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape."

Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,'

I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

You said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'"

two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd."

Then you shall say, 'They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.'"