At this, Isaac began to tremble violently. "Who then," he asked, "hunted some game and brought it to me to eat before you arrived, so that I've blessed him? Indeed, he is blessed."

Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing."

Then he said, "Isn't his name rightly called Jacob?" Esau asked. "He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing." Then he added, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

In response, Isaac told Esau, "Look! I've predicted that he's going to become your master, and I've assigned all his brothers to be his servants. What then can I do for you, my son?"

Then Esau implored his father, "Don't you have even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father!" Then Esau lifted his voice and wept bitterly.

Eventually, what Rebekah's older son Esau had been saying was reported to her, so she sent for her younger son Jacob and warned him, "Look! Your brother is planning to get even by killing you.

and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides.

After that happens and he has forgotten what you've done to him, I'll send for you so you can return from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

Rebekah also told herself, "Heth's daughters are making me tired of living. If Jacob marries one of Heth's daughters, and she turns out to be just like these other local women, what kind of life would there be left for me?"

Later, Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, instructing him, "Don't marry a wife from the local Canaanite women.

Instead, get up, travel to Paddan-aram, and visit the household of Bethuel, your mother's father. Marry one of Laban's daughters, since he's your mother's brother.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful so that your descendants become a whole group of people.

May he give you and your descendants the blessings that he gave Abraham. May you possess the land where you have lived that God gave to Abraham."

So Isaac sent Jacob off toward Paddan-aram to visit Bethuel's son Laban, the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

After Jacob had obeyed his father and mother's instructions to set out for Paddan-aram,

so he went to Abraham's son Ishmael and married Ishmael's daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.

Meanwhile, Jacob had left Beer-sheba and was on his way to Haran.

He reached a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun was setting. He found a stone there, used it for a pillow, and slept there for the night,

when he had a dream! He saw a raised highway that had been built with its ending point on earth and its beginning point in heaven. God's angels were ascending and descending on it.

And there was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your descendants the ground on which you're sleeping.

Your descendants are going to become like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

Now pay attention! I'm here with you, and I'm going to be watching over you wherever you go. I'm going to bring you back to this land, because I won't ever leave you until I've accomplished what I've promised about you."

Then Jacob woke up during the night and told himself, "Surely, the LORD is in this place and I never knew it!"

In mounting terror, he cried out, "How scary this place is! This is nothing less than God's house and the gateway to heaven!"

and named the place Beth-el, although previously the city had been named Luz.

Then he made this solemn vow: "If God remains with me, watches over me throughout this journey that I'm taking, gives me food to eat and clothes to wear,

and returns me safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God,

this stone that I've erected in the form of a pillar will be God's house, and I'll give you a tenth of everything that you give to me."

Jacob journeyed on and reached the territory that belonged to the people who lived in the east.

and when all the flocks had been gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the opening of the well, water their flocks, and then return the stone to its place covering the opening of the well.

But they responded, "We can't do that until all the sheep have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the opening of the well. Only then can we water the flock."

When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, accompanied by Laban's sheep, Jacob approached the well, rolled the stone from the opening of the well, and then watered his mother's brother Laban's flock.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to cry out loud.

Jacob told Rachel that he was related to her father, since he was Rebekah's son, so she ran and told her father.

When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him, kissed him, and brought him back to his house. Then Jacob told Laban about everything that had happened.

Laban responded, "You certainly are my flesh and blood!" So Jacob stayed with him for about a month.

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

Leah looked rather plain, but Rachel was lovely in form and appearance.

So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival.

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

So Jacob completed another seven years' work, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Leah conceived, bore a son, and named him Reuben, because she was saying, "The LORD had looked on my torture, so now my husband will love me."

Later, she conceived again, bore a son, and declared, "Because the LORD heard that I'm neglected, he gave me this one, too." So she named him Simeon.

Later, she conceived again and said, "This time my husband will become attached to me, now that I've borne him three sons." So he named him Levi.

Then she conceived yet again, bore a son, and said, "This time I'll praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing children.

So Rachel gave Jacob her woman servant Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob had sex with her.

Bilhah conceived and bore a son for Jacob.

Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me! He has heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore, she named him Dan.

Rachel's servant conceived again and bore a second son for Jacob,

so Rachel said, "I've been through a mighty struggle with my sister and won." She named him Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took her woman servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

and Leah exclaimed, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad.

Some time later, during the wheat harvest season, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field and brought them back for his mother Leah. Then Rachel told Leah, "Please give me your son's mandrakes."

In response, Leah asked her, "Wasn't it enough that you've taken away my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes!" But Rachel replied, "Okay, let's let Jacob sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went to meet him and told him, "You're having sex with me tonight. I traded my son's mandrakes for you!" So he slept with her that night.

God heard what Leah had said, so she conceived and bore a fifth son for Jacob.

Later, Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son for Jacob.

After that, Leah conceived, bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

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

so she conceived, bore a son, and remarked, "God has removed my shame."

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, "Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country.

Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. Then I'll leave, since you're aware of my service to you."

Name your wage, and I'll give it to you."

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

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.

That very day, Laban removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted that is, every one that had white on them and all the black lambs and placed them into the care of his sons.

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.

Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink.

Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock.

Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches.

Therefore the man Jacob prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.

Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."

Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field where his flock was

and informed them, "I've noticed that the way your father has been looking at us hasn't been as nice as it was just two days ago. But my father's God has been with me.

"So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me.

As it was, when it was time for the livestock to breed, I once looked up in a dream, and the male goats that were mating with the flock were producing streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring.

""Look around!' he said. "Go ahead, look! All the male goats have been mating with the flock, producing offspring that are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I've been watching everything that Laban has done to you.

I am the God of Bethel, the place where you consecrated that stone and made a vow to me. Now get up, leave this territory, and return to your native land.'"

Then Rachel and Leah asked him, "Do we have anything left of inheritance remaining in our father's house?

He's treating us like foreigners. He sold us and spent all of the money that rightfully belonged to us.

Furthermore, all of the wealth that God has stripped away from our father belongs to us now and to our children. So do everything that God tells you to do."

So Jacob got up, seated his children and wives on camels,

and drove all his livestock ahead of him, with everything that belonged to him, including the livestock that he had bought and accumulated in Paddan-aram, intending to deliver them to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Jacob fled, taking everything that he owned. He got up, crossed the river, and headed to the hill country of Gilead.

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.

That night, God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Be careful what you say to Jacob, whether it's one word good or bad."

Meanwhile, Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, where Laban had caught up with him. Laban and his relatives encamped on that same mountain in the hill country of Gilead, too.

ran away from me secretly, and stole from me by not keeping me informed. Otherwise, I could have sent you off with a party and singing, accompanied by a band playing tambourines and harps.

As it is, you didn't even allow me to kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye! You've acted foolishly.

Now as to your gods, if you find someone has them in their possession, he's a dead man. Take our relatives as witnesses, search through our belongings, and take whatever belongs to you that's in my possession." But Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

So Laban entered Jacob's tent, Leah's tent, and the tents of the two maid servants, but he didn't find them. Then he left Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.

Meanwhile, Rachel had taken the idols, placed them inside the saddle of her camel, and sat on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but found nothing.

Then Jacob got angry and started an argument with Laban. "What have I done?" he demanded. "What's my crime that would cause you to come pursue me so violently?

Now that you've searched all my belongings, what did you find that belongs to your house? Set it here in front of our relatives and we'll let them judge between us!

Meanwhile, these past 20 years that I've been with you, your sheep and goats never had miscarriages, I never once ate any of the rams from your flock,

and whatever was torn by beasts, I never bothered to bring to you. Instead, I bore the losses myself. Even so, you demanded that I provide restitution for anything that was stolen, whether during the day or the night.

As it was, I was attacked by drought during the day and by cold at night. I never got any decent rest.

I've lived in your house these 20 years serving fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flocks. During all that time you changed my wages ten times.

If the God of my father the God of Abraham, the God whom Isaac feared had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty handed. But God saw my misery and how hard I've worked with my own hands and he rebuked you last night."

But Laban answered Jacob, "These women are my daughters. These children are my children. The flocks are mine. In fact, everything that you see belongs to me. But what would I do today to my daughters and the children they have borne?