Genesis 30-33

Genesis 30

¹And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

²And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

³And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.

⁴And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

⁵And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

⁶And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

⁷And Bilhah Rachel’s handmaid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

⁸And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob to wife.

¹⁰And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a son.

¹¹And Leah said, Fortunate! and she called his name Gad.

¹²And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a second son.

¹³And Leah said, Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Asher.

¹⁴And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁵And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁶And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for I have surely hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

¹⁷And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob a fifth son.

¹⁸And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and bare a sixth son to Jacob.

²⁰And Leah said, God hath endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

²¹And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

²²And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

²³And she conceived, and bare a son: and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

²⁴and she called his name Joseph, saying, The LORD add to me another son.

²⁵And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service wherewith I have served thee.

²⁷And Laban said unto him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have divined that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

²⁸And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

²⁹And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle hath fared with me.

³⁰For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee whithersoever I turned: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

³¹And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me aught: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.

³²I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

³³So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when thou shalt come concerning my hire that is before thee: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that if found with me shall be counted stolen.

³⁴And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

³⁵And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she-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;

³⁶and he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane tree; and peeled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

³⁸And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink.

³⁹And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Laban’s flock.

⁴¹And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;

⁴²but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.

Genesis 31

¹And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.

²And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as beforetime.

³And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

⁴And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,

⁵and said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as beforetime; but the God of my father hath been with me.

⁶And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

⁷And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

⁸If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the flock bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy wages; then bare all the flock ringstraked.

⁹Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

¹⁰And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

¹¹And the angel of God said unto me in the dream, Jacob: and I said, Here am I.

¹²And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the he-goats which leap upon the flock are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

¹³I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.

¹⁴And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

¹⁵Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath also quite devoured our money.

¹⁶For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

¹⁷Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon the camels;

¹⁸and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had gathered, the cattle of his getting, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan.

¹⁹Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.

²⁰And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.

²¹So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

²²And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

²³And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and he overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.

²⁴And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said unto him, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

²⁵And Laban came up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountain of Gilead.

²⁶And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

²⁷Wherefore didst thou flee secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp;

²⁸and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly.

²⁹It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

³⁰And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

³¹And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Lest thou shouldest take thy daughters from me by force.

³²With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

³³And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

³⁴Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not.

³⁵And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the manner of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the teraphim.

³⁶And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast hotly pursued after me?

³⁷Whereas thou hast felt about all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us two.

³⁸This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten.

³⁹That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

⁴⁰Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes.

⁴¹These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

⁴²Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

⁴³And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have borne?

⁴⁴And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

⁴⁵And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

⁴⁶And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there by the heap.

⁴⁷And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:

⁴⁹and Mizpah, for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

⁵⁰If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

⁵¹And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I have set betwixt me and thee.

⁵²This heap be witness, and the pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

⁵³The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the Fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain.

⁵⁵And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

Genesis 32

¹And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

²And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

⁴And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau; Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now:

⁵and I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and menservants ard maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

⁶And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

⁸and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.

⁹And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:

¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.

¹¹Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.

¹²And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother;

¹⁴two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

¹⁶And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

¹⁷And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

¹⁸then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.

¹⁹And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;

²⁰and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.

²¹So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.

²²And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of Jabbok.

²³And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that he had.

²⁴And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

²⁵And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.

²⁶And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

²⁷And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

²⁸And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

²⁹And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

³⁰And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

³¹And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he halted upon his thigh.

³²Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Genesis 33

¹And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

²And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

³And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

⁵And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

⁶Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

⁷And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find grace in the sight of my lord.

⁹And Esau said, I have enough; my brother, let that thou hast be thine.

¹⁰And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

¹¹Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

¹²And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

¹³And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me give suck: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

¹⁴Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according to the pace of the cattle that is before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

¹⁵And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.

¹⁷And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city.

¹⁹And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.

²⁰And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.