Thematic Bible: Pursues jacob, overtakes him at mount gilead, and covenants with him
Thematic Bible
Laban » Pursues jacob, overtakes him at mount gilead, and covenants with him
And on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled. Then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him, a seven-day journey, and he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "{Take care} that you not speak with Jacob, whether good or evil." read more.
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done that you {tricked me} and have carried off my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you hide [your intention] to flee and {trick me}, and did not tell me so that I would have sent you away with joy and song and tambourine and lyre? And [why] did you not give me opportunity to kiss my grandsons and my daughters [goodbye]? Now you have behaved foolishly [by] doing [this]. {It is in my power} to do harm to you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, '{Take care} from speaking with Jacob, whether good or evil.' Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, [but] why did you steal my gods?" Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, "Because I [was] afraid, for I thought, 'Lest you take your daughters from me by force.' [But] with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen [now] identify what [is] with me [that is] yours and take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Then Laban went into Jacob's tent and Leah's tent and the tent of the two female servants and did not find [his gods]. And he came out of Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Jacob searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them. And she said to her father, "Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, for I am not able to rise before you, for the way of women [is] with me. And he searched carefully and did not find the idols. Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What [is] my offense? What [is] my sin that you pursued after me? For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us! These twenty years I [was] with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat. I brought no mangled carcass to you--I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. [There] I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold 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. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night." Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters [are] my daughters and the grandsons [are] my grandsons, and the flocks [are] my flocks, and all that you see, it [is] mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne? So now, come, let us {make} a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you." And Jacob took a stone and set it up [as] a stone pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed, and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}. If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, [when] there is no man with us, see--God [is] a witness between me and you." And Laban said to Jacob, "See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you. This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father judge between us." Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal. And they ate the meal and spent the night on the hill. And Laban arose early in the morning and kissed his grandsons and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his homeland.
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done that you {tricked me} and have carried off my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you hide [your intention] to flee and {trick me}, and did not tell me so that I would have sent you away with joy and song and tambourine and lyre? And [why] did you not give me opportunity to kiss my grandsons and my daughters [goodbye]? Now you have behaved foolishly [by] doing [this]. {It is in my power} to do harm to you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, '{Take care} from speaking with Jacob, whether good or evil.' Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, [but] why did you steal my gods?" Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, "Because I [was] afraid, for I thought, 'Lest you take your daughters from me by force.' [But] with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen [now] identify what [is] with me [that is] yours and take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Then Laban went into Jacob's tent and Leah's tent and the tent of the two female servants and did not find [his gods]. And he came out of Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Jacob searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them. And she said to her father, "Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, for I am not able to rise before you, for the way of women [is] with me. And he searched carefully and did not find the idols. Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What [is] my offense? What [is] my sin that you pursued after me? For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us! These twenty years I [was] with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat. I brought no mangled carcass to you--I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. [There] I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold 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. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night." Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters [are] my daughters and the grandsons [are] my grandsons, and the flocks [are] my flocks, and all that you see, it [is] mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne? So now, come, let us {make} a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you." And Jacob took a stone and set it up [as] a stone pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed, and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}. If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, [when] there is no man with us, see--God [is] a witness between me and you." And Laban said to Jacob, "See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you. This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father judge between us." Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal. And they ate the meal and spent the night on the hill. And Laban arose early in the morning and kissed his grandsons and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his homeland.