Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Jacob heard Laban's sons saying, "He has taken away all our father's possessions and gained all his glory from us." Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not the same as before. The Lord said to Jacob, "Return to your ancestral homeland and I will be with you."

Jacob called Rachel and Leah to the field and told them, "I see how my father is treating me now, but God has been with me all along." He reminded them that he had served their father with all his strength. Their father had deceived him by changing his wages ten times, but God allowed it without causing Jacob any harm.

If Laban said the speckled cattle would be Jacob's payment, then every single one of them was speckled. If he said the ringstraked ones would be his hire, then all the cattle were ringstraked. In this way, God took away Laban's livestock and gave it to Jacob.

At mating season, Jacob saw in a dream that the male goats leaping on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. The angel of God spoke to him in the dream, saying, "Jacob," and Jacob replied, "Here I am." The angel said, "Look up now and see all the rams that leap on the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grizzled, because I have seen everything Laban has done to you."

The Lord, who appeared to him at Bethel where he anointed a pillar and vowed a vow to Him, said, "Arise, leave this land, and return to your ancestral homeland." Rachel and Leah asked Jacob if there was any inheritance left for them in their father's household. They felt like strangers, having been sold by Laban and their money spent.

"All the wealth God has taken from our father is ours and our children's," they said. "Whatever God has told you to do, we will follow." Then Jacob gathered his sons and wives onto camels and took all his cattle and goods he had acquired in Padanaram to go to Isaac his father in Canaan.

Laban went to shear his sheep, but Rachel secretly took the household idols belonging to her father. Jacob stole away without telling Laban, taking everything with him as they crossed the river to set their faces toward Mount Gilead.

Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had left, so he gathered his relatives and pursued them for seven days' journey. They overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead. God appeared to Laban in a dream at night, saying, "Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob."

Laban caught up with Jacob, who was camping in the mountain. He scolded Jacob, asking why he had secretly deceived him and taken his daughters like captives taken with swords. Why did Jacob flee without telling Laban? He had not allowed Laban to kiss his sons and daughters.

"You have acted foolishly," Laban said. "I could do you harm, but God spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.'" Despite his longing for his father's household, why did Jacob take Laban's gods?

Jacob replied that he was afraid because he thought Laban might take his daughters by force. If anyone found Laban's gods with them, let him die. Before their relatives decided what belonged to whom, they would look through everything Jacob had and take it back.

Laban searched all the tents but couldn't find the household idols anywhere. Rachel sat on them in her camel's saddle, claiming she was unable to get up before Laban. He left without finding the gods.

Jacob became angry with Laban, asking what his offense was or what sin he had committed that Laban pursued him so vigorously. Despite searching all his possessions, Laban found nothing of value. Jacob pointed out that twenty years had passed since he began serving Laban, and not once did any ewes or she-goats miscarry under his care.

He bore the loss of any animals eaten by beasts during the day or at night. For twenty years, Jacob worked for Laban - fourteen to take care of his daughters, and six to manage his livestock. Laban had changed Jacob's wages ten times, but God saw Jacob's affliction and labor, rebuking Laban that very night.

Laban said, "These daughters are mine, these children are mine, and all the livestock you see belong to me." He proposed a covenant between them as a witness, saying, "Come, let us make an agreement today."

Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. They gathered stones, made a heap, and there they ate on it. Laban called this place Jegarsahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.

Laban said, "This heap is a witness between me and you." He added, "Mizpah; for he said, 'The Lord will be our witness between us when we are apart.'" If Laban's daughters were mistreated or taken as wives by other men, no one would be with them; God was their witness.

Laban told Jacob to look at the heap and pillar, saying that they would serve as a witness. He promised not to cross over this heap to Jacob for harm, nor would Jacob cross it to Laban. The God of Abraham, Nahor's God, and their father's God would judge between them.

Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac and then sacrificed on the mountain. His brothers joined him in sharing a meal before they spent the night there.

The next morning, Laban rose up early, kissed his sons and daughters, blessed them, and then departed to return to his place.