Jacob Flees from Laban

¹Jacob heard that Laban's sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father. He got all his wealth from what our father owned.”

²He also saw that Laban was no longer as friendly as he had been earlier.

³Then the Lord said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where his flocks were.

⁵He said to them, “I have noticed that your father is not as friendly toward me as he used to be; but my father's God has been with me.

⁶You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength.

⁷Yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not let him harm me.

⁸Whenever Laban said, ‘The speckled goats shall be your wages,’ all the flocks produced speckled young. When he said, ‘The striped goats shall be your wages,’ all the flocks produced striped young.

⁹God has taken flocks away from your father and given them to me.

¹⁰“During the breeding season I had a dream, and I saw that the male goats that were mating were striped, spotted, and speckled.

¹¹The angel of God spoke to me in the dream and said, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Yes,’ I answered.

¹²‘Look,’ he continued, ‘all the male goats that are mating are striped, spotted, and speckled. I am making this happen because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

¹³I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you dedicated a stone as a memorial by pouring olive oil on it and where you made a vow to me. Now get ready and go back to the land where you were born.’”

¹⁴Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “There is nothing left for us to inherit from our father.

¹⁵He treats us like foreigners. He sold us, and now he has spent all the money he was paid for us.

¹⁶All this wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children. Do whatever God has told you.”

^17-18So Jacob got ready to go back to his father in the land of Canaan. He put his children and his wives on the camels, and drove all his flocks ahead of him, with everything that he had gotten in Mesopotamia.

¹⁹Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father.

²⁰Jacob deceived Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving.

²¹He took everything he owned and left in a hurry. He crossed the Euphrates River and started for the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²Three days later Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

²³He took his men with him and pursued Jacob for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴In a dream that night God came to Laban and said to him, “Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way.”

²⁵Jacob had set up his camp on a mountain, and Laban set up his camp with his relatives in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁶Laban said to Jacob, “Why did you deceive me and carry off my daughters like women captured in war?

²⁷Why did you deceive me and slip away without telling me? If you had told me, I would have sent you on your way with rejoicing and singing to the music of tambourines and harps.

²⁸You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-bye. That was a foolish thing to do!

²⁹I have the power to do you harm, but last night the God of your father warned me not to threaten you in any way.

³⁰I know that you left because you were so anxious to get back home, but why did you steal my household gods?”

³¹Jacob answered, “I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your daughters away from me.

³²But if you find that anyone here has your gods, he will be put to death. Here, with our men as witnesses, look for anything that belongs to you and take what is yours.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban's gods.

³³Laban went and searched Jacob's tent; then he went into Leah's tent, and the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find his gods. Then he went into Rachel's tent.

³⁴Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in a camel's saddlebag and was sitting on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but did not find them.

³⁵Rachel said to her father, “Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up in your presence; I am having my monthly period.” Laban searched but did not find his household gods.

³⁶Then Jacob lost his temper. “What crime have I committed?” he asked angrily. “What law have I broken that gives you the right to hunt me down?

³⁷Now that you have searched through all my belongings, what household article have you found that belongs to you? Put it out here where your men and mine can see it, and let them decide which one of us is right.

³⁸I have been with you now for twenty years; your sheep and your goats have not failed to reproduce, and I have not eaten any rams from your flocks.

³⁹Whenever a sheep was killed by wild animals, I always bore the loss myself. I didn't take it to you to show that it was not my fault. You demanded that I make good anything that was stolen during the day or during the night.

⁴⁰Many times I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was not able to sleep.

⁴¹It was like that for the whole twenty years I was with you. For fourteen years I worked to win your two daughters—and six years for your flocks. And even then, you changed my wages ten times.

⁴²If the God of my fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac, had not been with me, you would have already sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my trouble and the work I have done, and last night he gave his judgment.”

The Agreement between Jacob and Laban

⁴³Laban answered Jacob, “These young women are my daughters; their children belong to me, and these flocks are mine. In fact, everything you see here belongs to me. But since I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children,

⁴⁴I am ready to make an agreement with you. Let us make a pile of stones to remind us of our agreement.”

⁴⁵So Jacob got a stone and set it up as a memorial.

⁴⁶He told his men to gather some rocks and pile them up. Then they ate a meal beside the pile of rocks.

⁴⁷Laban named it Jegar Sahadutha, while Jacob named it Galeed.

⁴⁸Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will be a reminder for both of us.” That is why that place was named Galeed.

⁴⁹Laban also said, “May the Lord keep an eye on us while we are separated from each other.” So the place was also named Mizpah.

⁵⁰Laban went on, “If you mistreat my daughters or if you marry other women, even though I don't know about it, remember that God is watching us.

⁵¹Here are the rocks that I have piled up between us, and here is the memorial stone.

⁵²Both this pile and this memorial stone are reminders. I will never go beyond this pile to attack you, and you must never go beyond it or beyond this memorial stone to attack me.

⁵³The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor will judge between us.” Then, in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshiped, Jacob solemnly vowed to keep this promise.

⁵⁴He killed an animal, which he offered as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his men to the meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

⁵⁵Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters good-bye, and left to go back home.

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

¹As Jacob went on his way, some angels met him.

²When he saw them, he said, “This is God's camp”; so he named the place Mahanaim.

³Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the country of Edom.

⁴He instructed them to say: “I, Jacob, your obedient servant, report to my master Esau that I have been staying with Laban and that I have delayed my return until now.

⁵I own cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and slaves. I am sending you word, sir, in the hope of gaining your favor.”

⁶When the messengers came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you. He has four hundred men with him.”

⁷Jacob was frightened and worried. He divided into two groups the people who were with him, and also his sheep, goats, cattle, and camels.

⁸He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks the first group, the other may be able to escape.”

⁹Then Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac, hear me! You told me, Lord, to go back to my land and to my relatives, and you would make everything go well for me.

¹⁰I am not worth all the kindness and faithfulness that you have shown me, your servant. I crossed the Jordan with nothing but a walking stick, and now I have come back with these two groups.

¹¹Save me, I pray, from my brother Esau. I am afraid—afraid that he is coming to attack us and destroy us all, even the women and children.

¹²Remember that you promised to make everything go well for me and to give me more descendants than anyone could count, as many as the grains of sand along the seashore.”

^13-15After spending the night there, Jacob chose from his livestock as a present for his brother Esau: 200 female goats and 20 males, 200 female sheep and 20 males, 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 males.

¹⁶He divided them into herds and put one of his servants in charge of each herd. He said to them, “Go ahead of me, and leave a space between each herd and the one behind it.”

¹⁷He ordered the first servant, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? Who owns these animals in front of you?’

¹⁸you must answer, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He sends them as a present to his master Esau. Jacob himself is right behind us.’”

¹⁹He gave the same order to the second, the third, and to all the others who were in charge of the herds: “This is what you must say to Esau when you meet him.

²⁰You must say, ‘Yes, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob was thinking, “I will win him over with the gifts, and when I meet him, perhaps he will forgive me.”

²¹He sent the gifts on ahead of him and spent that night in camp.

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

²²That same night Jacob got up, took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children, and crossed the Jabbok River.

²³After he had sent them across, he also sent across all that he owned,

²⁴but he stayed behind, alone. Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.

²⁵When the man saw that he was not winning the struggle, he hit Jacob on the hip, and it was thrown out of joint.

²⁶The man said, “Let me go; daylight is coming.” “I won't, unless you bless me,” Jacob answered.

²⁷“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel.”

²⁹Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob.

³⁰Jacob said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and I am still alive”; so he named the place Peniel.

³¹The sun rose as Jacob was leaving Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

³²Even today the descendants of Israel do not eat the muscle which is on the hip joint, because it was on this muscle that Jacob was hit.

^1-2Listen to what I am saying; that is all the comfort I ask from you.

³Give me a chance to speak and then, when I am through, sneer if you like.

⁴My quarrel is not with mortals; I have good reason to be impatient.

⁵Look at me. Isn't that enough to make you stare in shocked silence?

⁶When I think of what has happened to me, I am stunned, and I tremble and shake.

⁷Why does God let evil people live, let them grow old and prosper?

⁸They have children and grandchildren, and live to watch them all grow up.

⁹God does not bring disaster on their homes; they never have to live in terror.

¹⁰Yes, all their cattle breed and give birth without trouble.

¹¹Their children run and play like lambs

¹²and dance to the music of harps and flutes.

¹³They live out their lives in peace and quietly die without suffering.

¹⁴The wicked tell God to leave them alone; they don't want to know his will for their lives.

¹⁵They think there is no need to serve God nor any advantage in praying to him.

¹⁶They claim they succeed by their own strength, but their way of thinking I can't accept.

¹⁷Was a wicked person's light ever put out? Did one of them ever meet with disaster? Did God ever punish the wicked in anger

¹⁸and blow them away like straw in the wind, or like dust carried away in a storm?

¹⁹You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of their sins.

²⁰Let sinners bear their own punishment; let them feel the wrath of Almighty God.

²¹When our lives are over, do we really care whether our children are happy?

²²Can anyone teach God, who judges even those in high places?

^23-24Some people stay healthy till the day they die; they die happy and at ease, their bodies well-nourished.

²⁵Others have no happiness at all; they live and die with bitter hearts.

²⁶But all alike die and are buried; they all are covered with worms.

²⁷I know what spiteful thoughts you have.

²⁸You ask, “Where are the homes of great people now, those who practiced evil?”

²⁹Haven't you talked with people who travel? Don't you know the reports they bring back?

³⁰On the day God is angry and punishes, it is the wicked who are always spared.

³¹There is no one to accuse the wicked or pay them back for all they have done.

³²When they are carried to the graveyard, to their well-guarded tombs,

³³thousands join the funeral procession, and even the earth lies gently on their bodies.

³⁴And you! You try to comfort me with nonsense! Every answer you give is a lie!

The Third Dialogue

^1-2Is there anyone, even the wisest, who could ever be of use to God?

³Does your doing right benefit God, or does your being good help him at all?

⁴It is not because you stand in awe of God that he reprimands you and brings you to trial.

⁵No, it's because you have sinned so much; it's because of all the evil you do.

⁶To make a brother repay you the money he owed, you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear.

⁷You refused water to those who were tired, and refused to feed those who were hungry.

⁸You used your power and your position to take over the whole land.

⁹You not only refused to help widows, but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.

¹⁰So now there are pitfalls all around you, and suddenly you are full of fear.

¹¹It has grown so dark that you cannot see, and a flood overwhelms you.

¹²Doesn't God live in the highest heavens and look down on the stars, even though they are high?

¹³And yet you ask, “What does God know? He is hidden by clouds—how can he judge us?”

¹⁴You think the thick clouds keep him from seeing, as he walks on the dome of the sky.

¹⁵Are you determined to walk in the paths that evil people have always followed?

¹⁶Even before their time had come, they were washed away by a flood.

¹⁷These are the ones who rejected God and believed that he could do nothing to them.

¹⁸And yet it was God who made them prosperous— I can't understand the thoughts of the wicked.

¹⁹Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished.

²⁰All that the wicked own is destroyed, and fire burns up anything that is left.

²¹Now, Job, make peace with God and stop treating him like an enemy; if you do, then he will bless you.

²²Accept the teaching he gives; keep his words in your heart.

²³Yes, you must humbly return to God and put an end to all the evil that is done in your house.

²⁴Throw away your gold; dump your finest gold in the dry stream bed.

²⁵Let Almighty God be your gold, and let him be silver, piled high for you.

²⁶Then you will always trust in God and find that he is the source of your joy.

²⁷When you pray, he will answer you, and you will keep the vows you made.

²⁸You will succeed in all you do, and light will shine on your path.

²⁹God brings down the proud and saves the humble.

³⁰He will rescue you if you are innocent, if what you do is right.

⁹Honor the Lord by making him an offering from the best of all that your land produces.

¹⁰If you do, your barns will be filled with grain, and you will have too much wine to store it all.

¹¹My child, when the Lord corrects you, pay close attention and take it as a warning.

¹²The Lord corrects those he loves, as parents correct a child of whom they are proud.