Читать книгу Bible - Various Authors , Government of Brandenburg - Страница 5

18:22 The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. 18:23 Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 18:25 Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

18:26 Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake." 18:27 Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. 18:28 What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?"

He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

18:29 He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?"

He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

18:30 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?"

He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

18:31 He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?"

He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

18:32 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?"

He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

18:33 Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 19:2 and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way."

They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night."

19:3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 19:5 They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them."

19:6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. 19:7 He said, "Please, my brothers, don't act so wickedly. 19:8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof."

19:9 They said, "Stand back!" They said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. 19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 19:11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

19:12 The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: 19:13 for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it."

19:14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city."

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 19:15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city." 19:16 But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. 19:17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!"

19:18 Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord. 19:19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. 19:20 See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live."

19:21 He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 19:22 Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.6

19:23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. 19:25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. 19:28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

19:29 It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

19:30 Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. 19:32 Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." 19:33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 19:34 It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." 19:35 They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 19:36 Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father. 19:37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 19:38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

20:1 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 20:2 Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man's wife."

20:4 Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, "Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? 20:5 Didn't he tell me, 'She is my sister?' She, even she herself, said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this."

20:6 God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn't allow you to touch her. 20:7 Now therefore, restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don't restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours."

20:8 Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!" 20:10 Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you have done this thing?"

20:11 Abraham said, "Because I thought, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife's sake.' 20:12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 20:13 It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"

20:14 Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. 20:15 Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you." 20:16 To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated."

20:17 Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 20:18 For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

21:1 Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken. 21:2 Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 21:3 Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.7 21:4 Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 21:5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. 21:6 Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me." 21:7 She said, "Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."

21:8 The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 21:9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 21:10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this handmaid and her son! For the son of this handmaid will not be heir with my son, Isaac."

21:11 The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. 21:12 God said to Abraham, "Don't let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your handmaid. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For from Isaac will your seed be called. 21:13 I will also make a nation of the son of the handmaid, because he is your seed." 21:14 Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 21:15 The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Don't let me see the death of the child." She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 21:17 God heard the voice of the boy.

The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Don't be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 21:18 Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation."

21:19 God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink. 21:20 God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

21:22 It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. 21:23 Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner."

21:24 Abraham said, "I will swear." 21:25 Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. 21:26 Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this thing. Neither did you tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today."

21:27 Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. 21:28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?"

21:30 He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well." 21:31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba,8 because they both swore there. 21:32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. 21:34 Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

22:1 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"

He said, "Here I am."

22:2 He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of."

22:3 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. 22:4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 22:5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you." 22:6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 22:7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?"

He said, "Here I am, my son."

He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

22:8 Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together. 22:9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 22:10 Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.

22:11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"

He said, "Here I am."

22:12 He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide9. As it is said to this day, "On Yahweh's mountain, it will be provided."

22:15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 22:16 and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 22:18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

22:19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.

22:20 It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 22:21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22:22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." 22:23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

23:1 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life. 23:2 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. 23:3 Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, 23:4 "I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

23:5 The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:6 "Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead."

23:7 Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. 23:8 He talked with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, 23:9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me among you for a possession of a burying-place."

23:10 Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 23:11 "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

23:12 Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. 23:13 He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."

23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 "My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead."

23:16 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard.

23:17 So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded 23:18 to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 23:19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 23:20 The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.

24:1 Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh. 24:3 I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. 24:4 But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

24:5 The servant said to him, "What if the woman isn't willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?"

24:6 Abraham said to him, "Beware that you don't bring my son there again. 24:7 Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, 'I will give this land to your seed10.' He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 24:8 If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again."

24:9 The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 24:10 The servant took ten camels, of his master's camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master's with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. 24:12 He said, "Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 24:13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 24:14 Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, 'Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,' and she will say, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,'--let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

24:15 It happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. 24:16 The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, neither had any man known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. 24:17 The servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher."

24:18 She said, "Drink, my lord." She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him drink. 24:19 When she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will also draw for your camels, until they have done drinking." 24:20 She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

24:21 The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not. 24:22 It happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, 24:23 and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?"

24:24 She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." 24:25 She said moreover to him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."

24:26 The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh. 24:27 He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me in the way to the house of my master's relatives."

24:28 The young lady ran, and told her mother's house about these words. 24:29 Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. 24:30 It happened, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," that he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 24:31 He said, "Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels."

24:32 The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 24:33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told my message."

He said, "Speak on."

24:34 He said, "I am Abraham's servant. 24:35 Yahweh has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. 24:37 My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 24:38 but you shall go to my father's house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.' 24:39 I said to my master, 'What if the woman will not follow me?' 24:40 He said to me, 'Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father's house. 24:41 Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don't give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.' 24:42 I came this day to the spring, and said, 'Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go-- 24:43 behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes forth to draw, to whom I will say, "Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher to drink," 24:44 and she will tell me, "Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,"--let her be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master's son.' 24:45 Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, 'Please let me drink.' 24:46 She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.' So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. 24:47 I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. 24:48 I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son. 24:49 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."

24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, "The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can't speak to you bad or good. 24:51 Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Yahweh has spoken."

24:52 It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh. 24:53 The servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. 24:54 They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master."

24:55 Her brother and her mother said, "Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go."

24:56 He said to them, "Don't hinder me, seeing Yahweh has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

24:57 They said, "We will call the young lady, and ask her." 24:58 They called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go with this man?"

She said, "I will go."

24:59 They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham's servant, and his men. 24:60 They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, "Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them."

24:61 Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way. 24:62 Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South. 24:63 Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming. 24:64 Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. 24:65 She said to the servant, "Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?"

The servant said, "It is my master."

She took her veil, and covered herself. 24:66 The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 24:67 Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

25:1 Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 25:4 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 25:5 Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, 25:6 but to the sons of Abraham's concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country. 25:7 These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years. 25:8 Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 25:9 Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, 25:10 the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. 25:11 It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.

25:12 Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham. 25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. 25:17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. 25:18 They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.

25:19 This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. 25:21 Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 25:22 The children struggled together within her. She said, "If it be so, why do I live?" She went to inquire of Yahweh. 25:23 Yahweh said to her,

Two nations are in your womb.Two peoples will be separated from your body.The one people will be stronger than the other people.The elder will serve the younger.

25:24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. 25:26 After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

25:27 The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 25:28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. 25:29 Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 25:30 Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.

25:31 Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright."

25:32 Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"

25:33 Jacob said, "Swear to me first."

He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. 25:34 Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 26:2 Yahweh appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 26:4 I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, 26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

26:6 Isaac lived in Gerar. 26:7 The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, "the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at." 26:8 It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. 26:9 Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'"

Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her.'"

26:10 Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!"

26:11 Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

26:12 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. 26:13 The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 26:14 He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. 26:15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. 26:16 Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we."

26:17 Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

26:18 Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 26:19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 26:20 The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 26:21 They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah. 26:22 He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, "For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

26:23 He went up from there to Beersheba. 26:24 Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

26:25 He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well.

26:26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. 26:27 Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?"

26:28 They said, "We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you, 26:29 that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.' You are now the blessed of Yahweh."

26:30 He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 26:31 They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 26:32 It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." 26:33 He called it Shibah.11 Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba12 to this day.

26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They grieved Isaac's and Rebekah's spirits.

27:1 It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?"

He said to him, "Here I am."

27:2 He said, "See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my death. 27:3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. 27:4 Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die."

27:5 Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 27:6 Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 27:7 'Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.' 27:8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. 27:9 Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good kids of the goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. 27:10 You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 27:12 What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing."

27:13 His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me."

27:14 He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 27:15 Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. 27:16 She put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 27:17 She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

27:18 He came to his father, and said, "My father?"

He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

27:19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."

27:20 Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?"

He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success."

27:21 Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

27:22 Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 27:23 He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau's hands. So he blessed him. 27:24 He said, "Are you really my son Esau?"

He said, "I am."

27:25 He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you."

He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. 27:26 His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son." 27:27 He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,

"Behold, the smell of my sonis as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.27:28 God give you of the dew of the sky,of the fatness of the earth,and plenty of grain and new wine.27:29 Let peoples serve you,and nations bow down to you.Be lord over your brothers.Let your mother's sons bow down to you.Cursed be everyone who curses you.Blessed be everyone who blesses you."

27:30 It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 27:31 He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me."

27:32 Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?"

He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

27:33 Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed."

27:34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father."

27:35 He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."

27:36 He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

27:37 Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?"

27:38 Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

27:39 Isaac his father answered him,

"Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling,and of the dew of the sky from above.27:40 By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother.It will happen, when you will break loose,that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."

27:41 Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."

27:42 The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. 27:44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away; 27:45 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?"

27:46 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?"

28:1 Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 28:2 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. 28:3 May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, 28:4 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."

28:5 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.

28:6 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," 28:7 and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram. 28:8 Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn't please Isaac, his father. 28:9 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.

28:10 Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 28:11 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. 28:12 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. 28:13 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, "I am Yahweh, 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. 28:14 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. 28:15 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."

28:16 Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn't know it." 28:17 He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven."

28:18 Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 28:19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 28:20 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, 28:21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, 28:22 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."

29:1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. 29:2 He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well's mouth was large. 29:3 There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well's mouth in its place. 29:4 Jacob said to them, "My relatives, where are you from?"

They said, "We are from Haran."

29:5 He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?"

They said, "We know him."

29:6 He said to them, "Is it well with him?"

They said, "It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep."

29:7 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."

29:8 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."

29:9 While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them. 29:10 It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. 29:11 Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. 29:12 Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father.

29:13 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. 29:14 Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month. 29:15 Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"

29:16 Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 29:17 Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. 29:18 Jacob loved Rachel. He said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

29:19 Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me."

29:20 Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

29:21 Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."

29:22 Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 29:23 It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her. 29:24 Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid. 29:25 It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"

29:26 Laban said, "It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. 29:27 Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years."

29:28 Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. 29:29 Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid. 29:30 He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

29:31 Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 29:32 Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me." 29:33 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, "Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also." She named him Simeon. 29:34 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. 29:35 She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, "This time will I praise Yahweh." Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

30:1 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."

30:2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

30:3 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." 30:4 She gave him Bilhah her handmaid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. 30:5 Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son. 30:6 Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore called she his name Dan. 30:7 Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. 30:8 Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." She named him Naphtali.

30:9 When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, bore Jacob a son. 30:11 Leah said, "How fortunate!" She named him Gad. 30:12 Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, bore Jacob a second son. 30:13 Leah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy." She named him Asher.

30:14 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."

30:15 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."

30:16 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. 30:17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. 30:18 Leah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." She named him Issachar. 30:19 Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 30:20 Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons." She named him Zebulun. 30:21 Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

30:22 God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. 30:23 She conceived, bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach." 30:24 She named him Joseph,13 saying, "May Yahweh add another son to me."

30:25 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. 30:26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you."

30:27 Laban said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake." 30:28 He said, "Appoint me your wages, and I will give it."

30:29 He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. 30:30 For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?"

30:31 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. 30:32 I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. 30:33 So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen."

30:34 Laban said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word."

30:35 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. 30:36 He set three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

30:37 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. 30:38 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. 30:39 The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. 30:40 Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and didn't put them into Laban's flock. 30:41 It happened, whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; 30:42 but when the flock were feeble, he didn't put them in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 30:43 The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

31:1 He heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's. From that which was our father's, has he gotten all this wealth." 31:2 Jacob saw the expression on Laban's face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. 31:3 Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

31:4 Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, 31:5 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. 31:6 You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. 31:7 Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn't allow him to hurt me. 31:8 If he said this, 'The speckled will be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled. If he said this, 'The streaked will be your wages,' then all the flock bore streaked. 31:9 Thus God has taken away your father's livestock, and given them to me. 31:10 It happened during mating season that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. 31:11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' 31:12 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. 31:13 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.'"

31:14 Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? 31:15 Aren't we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money. 31:16 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."

31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, 31:18 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. 31:19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim14 that were her father's.

31:20 Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn't tell him that he was running away. 31:21 So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

31:22 Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 31:23 He took his relatives with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. 31:24 God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Jacob either good or bad."

31:25 Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead. 31:26 Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? 31:27 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn't tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; 31:28 and didn't allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. 31:29 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 don't speak to Jacob either good or bad.' 31:30 Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?"

31:31 Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.' 31:32 Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it." For Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen them.

31:33 Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn't find them. He went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. 31:34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt about all the tent, but didn't find them. 31:35 She said to her father, "Don't let my lord be angry that I can't rise up before you; for the manner of women is on me." He searched, but didn't find the teraphim.

31:36 Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? 31:37 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. 31:38 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. 31:39 That which was torn of animals, I didn't bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 31:40 This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. 31:41 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. 31:42 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. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."

31:43 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? 31:44 Now come, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be for a witness between me and you."

31:45 Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. 31:46 Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,15 but Jacob called it Galeed.16 31:48 Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and you this day." Therefore it was named Galeed 31:49 and Mizpah, for he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. 31:50 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you." 31:51 Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. 31:52 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. 31:53 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. 31:54 Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. 31:55 Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.