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Jacob
Leaves Secretly for Canaan |
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Genesis 31:1
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Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying,
"Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what belonged to our
father he has made all this wealth." |
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Genesis 31:2
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Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold,
it was not friendly toward him as formerly. |
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Genesis 31:3
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Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the
land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." |
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Genesis 31:4
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So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to
his flock in the field, |
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Genesis 31:5
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and said to them, "I see your father's attitude,
that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been
with me. |
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Genesis 31:6
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"You know that I have served your father with
all my strength. |
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Genesis 31:7
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"Yet your father has cheated me and changed
my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. |
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Genesis 31:8
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"If he spoke thus, 'The speckled shall be your
wages,' then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, 'The
striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth striped. |
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Genesis 31:9
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"Thus God has taken away your father's livestock
and given them to me. |
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Genesis 31:10
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"And it came about at the time when the flock
were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male
goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled. |
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Genesis 31:11
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"Then the angel of God said to me in the dream,
'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' |
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Genesis 31:12
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"He said, 'Lift up now your eyes and see that
all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I
have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. |
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Genesis 31:13
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'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed
a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to
the land of your birth.'" |
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Genesis 31:14
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Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have
any portion or inheritance in our father's house? |
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Genesis 31:15
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"Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For
he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. |
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Genesis 31:16
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"Surely all the wealth which God has taken away
from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has
said to you." |
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Genesis 31:17
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Then Jacob arose and put his children and his
wives upon camels; |
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Genesis 31:18
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and he drove away all his livestock and all
his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered
in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. |
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Genesis 31:19
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When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then
Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's. |
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Genesis 31:20
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And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not
telling him that he was fleeing. |
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Genesis 31:21
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So he fled with all that he had; and he arose
and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. |
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Laban
Pursues Jacob |
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Genesis 31:22
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When it was told Laban on the third day that
Jacob had fled, |
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Genesis 31:23
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then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued
him a distance of seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the hill country
of Gilead. |
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Genesis 31:24
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God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of
the night and said to him, "Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good
or bad." |
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Genesis 31:25
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Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched
his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country
of Gilead. |
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Genesis 31:26
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Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done
by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? |
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Genesis 31:27
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"Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and
did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with
timbrel and with lyre; |
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Genesis 31:28
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and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my
daughters? Now you have done foolishly. |
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Genesis 31:29
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"It is in my power to do you harm, but the God
of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either
good or bad to Jacob.' |
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Genesis 31:30
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"Now you have indeed gone away because you longed
greatly for your father's house; but why did you steal my gods?" |
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Genesis 31:31
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Then Jacob replied to Laban, "Because I was
afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. |
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Genesis 31:32
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"The one with whom you find your gods shall
not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings
and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. |
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Genesis 31:33
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So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's
tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went
out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. |
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Genesis 31:34
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Now Rachel had taken the household idols and
put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all
the tent but did not find them. |
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Genesis 31:35
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She said to her father, "Let not my lord be
angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me." So he
searched but did not find the household idols. |
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Genesis 31:36
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Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban;
and Jacob said to Laban, "What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have
hotly pursued me? |
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Genesis 31:37
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"Though you have felt through all my goods,
what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen
and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. |
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Genesis 31:38
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"These twenty years I have been with you; your
ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your
flocks. |
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Genesis 31:39
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"That which was torn of beasts I did not bring
to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen
by day or stolen by night. |
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Genesis 31:40
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"Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and
the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. |
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Genesis 31:41
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"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 changed my wages ten times. |
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Genesis 31:42
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"If the God of my father, the God of Abraham,
and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me
away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He
rendered judgment last night." |
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The
Covenant of Mizpah |
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Genesis 31:43
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Then Laban replied to Jacob, "The daughters
are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks,
and 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? |
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Genesis 31:44
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"So now come, let us make a covenant, you and
I, and let it be a witness between you and me." |
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Genesis 31:45
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Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
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Genesis 31:46
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Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones."
So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. |
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Genesis 31:47
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Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob
called it Galeed. |
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Genesis 31:48
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Laban said, "This heap is a witness between
you and me this day." Therefore it was named Galeed, |
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Genesis 31:49
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and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch
between you and me when we are absent one from the other. |
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Genesis 31:50
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"If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take
wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between
you and me." |
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Genesis 31:51
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Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap and behold
the pillar which I have set between you and me. |
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Genesis 31:52
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"This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a
witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass
by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. |
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Genesis 31:53
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"The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the
God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father
Isaac. |
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Genesis 31:54
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Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain,
and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night
on the mountain. |
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Genesis 31:55
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Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed
his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned
to his place. |
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