Genesis 31:1–21

¹Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.” ²And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed.

³Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were, ⁵and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring. ⁹Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

¹⁰When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. ¹¹In that dream the angel^a of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’

And I replied, ‘Here I am.’

¹²‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”

¹⁴And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us. ¹⁶Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram,^b to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

¹⁹Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. ²⁰Moreover, Jacob deceived^c Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was running away. ²¹So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates,^d and headed for the hill country of Gilead.