31

Jacob Flees from Laban

¹Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this ⚓wealth.” ²And Jacob saw the ⚓countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not ⚓favorable toward him as before. ³Then the Lord said to Jacob, ⚓“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will ⚓be with you.”
⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, ⁵and said to them, ⚓“I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father ⚓has been with me. ⁶And ⚓you know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷Yet your father has deceived me and ⚓changed my wages ⚓ten times, but God ⚓did not allow him to hurt me. ⁸If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ⚓‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. ⁹So God has ⚓taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
¹⁰“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. ¹¹Then ⚓the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ⚓I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, ⚓where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ⚓arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”
¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ⚓“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not considered strangers by him? For ⚓he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. ¹⁶For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”
¹⁷Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of ⚓Canaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the ⚓household idols that were her father’s. ²⁰And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and ⚓headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ²³Then he took ⚓his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴But God ⚓had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you ⚓speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”
²⁵So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.
²⁶And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and ⚓carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? ²⁸And you did not allow me ⚓to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now ⚓you have done foolishly in so doing. ²⁹It is in my power to do you harm, but the ⚓God of your father spoke to me ⚓last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ ³⁰And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you ⚓steal my gods?”
³¹Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was ⚓afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ ³²With whomever you find your gods, ⚓do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
³³And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot ⚓rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
³⁶Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? ³⁷Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. ³⁹⚓That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. ⚓You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. ⁴¹Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I ⚓served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and ⚓you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²⚓Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and ⚓the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ⚓God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and ⚓rebuked you last night.”

Laban’s Covenant with Jacob

⁴³And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Now therefore, come, ⚓let us make a covenant, ⚓you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”
⁴⁵So Jacob ⚓took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸And Laban said, ⚓“This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, ⁴⁹also ⚓Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. ⁵⁰If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”
⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. ⁵²This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father ⚓judge between us.” And Jacob ⚓swore by ⚓the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. ⁵⁵And early in the morning Laban arose, and ⚓kissed his sons and daughters and ⚓blessed them. Then Laban departed and ⚓returned to his place.

31

雅各逃离拉班

¹雅各听见拉班儿子们的话，说：“雅各把我们父亲所有的都夺去了！他从我们父亲所拥有的获得这一切的财富。” ²雅各见拉班的脸色，看哪，待他不如从前了。 ³耶和华对雅各说：“你要回你祖先之地，到你本族那里去，我必与你同在。” ⁴雅各就派人叫拉结和利亚到田野他的羊群那里去， ⁵对她们说：“我看你们父亲待我的脸色不如从前了，但我父亲的上帝向来与我同在。 ⁶你们也知道，我尽了全力服事你们的父亲。 ⁷可是你们的父亲欺骗我，十次更改我的工资，但上帝不容许他害我。 ⁸他若说：‘有点的归给你作工资’，羊群所生的都是有点的；他若说：‘有纹的归给你作工资’，羊群所生的都是有纹的。 ⁹这样，上帝把你们父亲的牲畜拿来赐给我了。
¹⁰“羊群交配的时候，我在梦中举目一看，看哪，跳母羊的公羊都是有纹的、有点的、有花斑的。 ¹¹上帝的使者在梦中呼叫我说：‘雅各。’我说：‘我在这里。’ ¹²他说：‘你举目观看，跳母羊的公羊都是有纹的、有点的、有花斑的。拉班向你所做的一切，我都看见了。 ¹³我是伯特利的上帝；你曾在那里用油膏过柱子，向我许过愿。现在你起来，离开这地，回你本族之地去吧！’” ¹⁴拉结和利亚回答雅各说：“在我们父亲家里还有我们可分得的产业吗？ ¹⁵我们不是被他看作外人吗？因为他卖了我们，还吞吃了我们的银钱。 ¹⁶上帝从我们父亲所拿走的一切财物，都是我们和我们孩子的。现在，凡上帝所吩咐你的，你只管去做吧！”
¹⁷雅各起来，叫他的孩子和妻子都骑上骆驼， ¹⁸又赶着他一切的牲畜和他所得的一切财物，就是他在巴旦．亚兰所得的，他拥有的牲畜⚓，往迦南地他父亲以撒那里去了。 ¹⁹当时拉班去剪羊毛，拉结偷了他父亲家中的神像。 ²⁰雅各瞒住亚兰人拉班，不通知他就逃走了。 ²¹雅各带着他所有的逃走了；他起程，渡过大河，面向着基列山。

拉班追赶雅各

²²到第三天，有人告诉拉班，雅各逃跑了。 ²³拉班带着他的弟兄们去追他，追了七天，就在基列山追上了。 ²⁴夜间，上帝来到亚兰人拉班那里，在梦中对他说：“你要小心，不可对雅各说好说歹。”
²⁵拉班追上雅各。雅各在山上支搭帐棚；拉班和他的弟兄们也在基列山上支搭帐棚。 ²⁶拉班对雅各说：“你做的是什么事呢？你瞒着我把我的女儿们带走，好像用刀剑掳去一般。 ²⁷你为什么暗暗地逃跑，瞒着我，不通知我一声，叫我可以欢乐、唱歌、击鼓、弹琴送你回去呢？ ²⁸为什么不容许我与外孙和女儿吻别呢？你现在所做的真是愚蠢！ ²⁹我的手本有能力害你，只是你父亲的上帝昨夜对我说：‘你要小心，不可对雅各说好说歹。’ ³⁰现在你既然这么想念你的父家，不得不去，为什么又偷了我的神明呢？” ³¹雅各回答拉班说：“因为我害怕，我想，恐怕你把你的女儿从我这里夺走。 ³²至于你的神明，你若在谁那里搜出来，就不让谁活。当着我们弟兄面前，你认一认在我这里有什么东西是你的，你就拿去吧。”原来雅各并不知道拉结偷了神明。
³³拉班进了雅各、利亚，以及两个使女的帐棚，却没有找到，就从利亚的帐棚出来，进入拉结的帐棚。 ³⁴拉结拿了神像，藏在骆驼的鞍子里，自己坐在上面。拉班搜遍了那帐棚，并没有找到。 ³⁵拉结对她父亲说：“请我主不要生气，因为我恰有月事，不能在你面前起来。”拉班搜寻，却找不到神像。
³⁶于是雅各发怒，斥责拉班。雅各对拉班说：“我有什么过犯，有什么罪恶，你竟这样火速地追我？ ³⁷你搜遍了我一切的物件，你找到什么呢？可以放在你我弟兄面前，叫他们在我们两个之间评评理。 ³⁸我在你那里这二十年，你的母绵羊、母山羊没有掉过胎。你羊群中的公绵羊，我没有吃过； ³⁹被野兽撕裂的，我没有带来给你，是我自己赔偿的。无论是白日被偷的，或是黑夜被偷的，你都从我手中索取。 ⁴⁰我常常白日受尽炎热，黑夜受尽寒霜，不得合眼入睡。 ⁴¹我这二十年在你家里，为你两个女儿服事了你十四年，为你的羊群服事了你六年，你却十次更改我的工资。 ⁴²若不是我父亲以撒所敬畏的上帝，就是亚伯拉罕的上帝与我同在，你如今必定打发我空手而去。上帝看见我的苦情和我手的辛劳，就在昨夜责备了你。”

雅各和拉班立约

⁴³拉班回答雅各说：“这两个女儿是我的女儿，这些孩子是我的孩子，这些羊群也都是我的羊群；凡你所看见的都是我的。我的女儿和她们所生的孩子，我今日还能对他们做什么呢？ ⁴⁴现在，来吧！让我和你立约，作你我之间的证据。” ⁴⁵雅各就拿一块石头立作柱子， ⁴⁶对弟兄们说：“大家来堆积石头。”他们拿石头堆成一堆，于是在那里，在石堆旁边吃喝。 ⁴⁷拉班称那石堆为伊迦尔．撒哈杜他，雅各却称那石堆为迦累得⚓ 。 ⁴⁸拉班说：“今日这石堆成为你我之间的证据。”因此这地方名叫迦累得， ⁴⁹又叫米斯巴，因为他说：“我们彼此离别以后，愿耶和华在你我中间鉴察⚓ 。 ⁵⁰你若苦待我的女儿，或在我的女儿以外另娶妻，虽没有人在场，你看，有上帝在你我中间作证。”
⁵¹拉班又对雅各说：“看哪，这石堆，看哪，这柱子，是我在你我中间所立的。 ⁵²这石堆是证据，这柱子也是证据。我必不越过这石堆去害你；你也不可越过这石堆和柱子来害我。 ⁵³愿亚伯拉罕的上帝和拿鹤的上帝，就是他们父亲的上帝⚓，在你我中间判断。”雅各就指着他父亲以撒所敬畏的上帝起誓， ⁵⁴又在山上献祭，请弟兄们来吃饭。他们吃了饭，就在山上过夜。 ⁵⁵拉班清早起来，与他外孙和女儿亲吻，为他们祝福，就回到自己的地方去了。