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Genesis 30:37-45
37 Then Jacob obtained fresh rods of poplar, almond and plane, and he exposed the white wood under the bark by stripping back the rods until they had strips of white visible. 38 He set up the rods he had peeled at the watering places, and in front of the flocks of goats where they came to drink at the troughs. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in amongst the rods and they produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob then separated out the ewes, and made them look towards Laban’s flocks of striped and the black animals; and he thereby built up his own flocks and separated them from Laban's flock. 41 And whenever the stronger animals of the flocks were breeding, Jacob placed the rods in the watering troughs where they could be seen by the flock, so that they bred among the rods. 42 But he did not place them there when the weaker of Laban’s flock came; so the weak ones belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones belonged to Jacob.
43 In this way, the man grew extremely rich, and had large flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.
Genesis 31:1-21
1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, ‘Jacob has taken everything that was our father's, and made all his wealth out of him.’ 2 Jacob also saw that Laban’s attitude towards him was not as good as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your ancestors and your family, and I will be with you.’ 4 So he summoned Rachel and Leah to the field with his flocks, 5 and said to them, ‘I can see that your father does not have regard for me as he did before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know the effort with which I have served your father, 7 yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; but God did not let him do me harm. 8 If he said, “The speckled will be your wages,” then all the flock gave birth to speckled; and if he said, “The striped will be your wages,” then all the flock gave birth to striped. 9 God has therefore taken back your father’s livestock and given it all to me.
10 Once, in the breeding season, I had a dream in which I could see that the male goats mating with the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 Then in the dream God’s angel called me, “Jacob,” and I said, “Here I am!” 12 He said, 'Look; because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you, all the goats mating with the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled! 13 I am the God you met at Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land."’
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, ‘Do we really have any share left in our father’s wealth? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? He sold us, and consumed all our money! 16 So all the wealth God has taken from our father now belongs to us and to our children; therefore do whatever God has told you.’ 17 So Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and left with everything he had acquired in Paddan-aram; all his wealth and all the livestock. He set out for his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 Meanwhile, Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen her father's household idols. 20 So Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was going to go. 21 Jacob left with everything he had, and once he crossed the Euphrates, he set course for the hill country of Gilead.
Genesis 31:22-35
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued him for seven days and caught up with him near the hill country of Gilead. 24 But that night God spoke to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him; ‘Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way.’ 25 Laban overtook Jacob, who had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban was camped with his relatives on the lopes of Gilead.
26 Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have tricked me and carried off my daughters like prisoners of war! 27 Why did you steal away by deception and not tell me? I might have sent you away with joyful songs and the music of tambourines and lyres. 28 You did not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren. You have been foolish. 29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, “Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way.” 30 Now, even though you left because you wanted to return to your father's house, why did you steal my gods?"
31 ‘I was fearful’ Jacob replied, ‘thinking you would take your daughters away from me by force. 32 But if you find anyone with your gods, they shall not live. In the presence of our whole family, point out anything that I have that is yours, and take it’ (but Jacob was unaware that Rachel had stolen the gods). 33 So Laban searched Jacob's tent, and the tents of Leah and the two maids, without finding them. He left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel's. 34 Meanwhile Rachel had taken the gods and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban searched everything in the tent, but did not find them. 35 Then she said to her father, ‘Don’t be offended, my lord, for I cannot stand for you because I have my monthly period.’ So he searched, but did not find the gods.
Genesis 31:36-43
36 Then Jacob was very angry, and reprimanded Laban, saying, ‘Now what have I done wrong! What sin have I committed that you should hunt me down? 37 Having searched through all my goods, if you have found anything of your own, then place it here before both our families, so that they may judge between the two of us. 38 I have been with you for twenty years; your ewes and goats have not miscarried, and I never ate rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring you the animals ravaged by wild beasts, but bore the loss myself; you held me responsible for everything, whether stolen by day or by night. 40 I endured the consuming heat of the day and the cold by night, and barely slept. 41 I have been in your house for twenty years, serving you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Awesome God of Isaac, had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away with nothing. God saw my affliction and my work, and rebuked you last night.’
43 Then Laban replied to Jacob, ‘The daughters are mine and the children are mine, the flocks are mine, and all that you see belongs to me. What can I do for these daughters of mine now? or even their children when they are borne?’
Genesis 31:43-55
43 Then Laban replied to Jacob, ‘The daughters are mine and the children are mine, the flocks are mine, and all that you see belongs to me. What can I do for these daughters of mine now? or even their children when they are borne? 44 So come, we will make a contract, you and I; and let it be evidence of the agreement between you and me.’
45 So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. 46 He then said to his relatives, ‘Gather stones,’ so they gathered some stones, and made a mound; and they had a meal there by the mound. 47 Laban called it “Jegar-sahadutha”: but Jacob called it ‘stone mound’. 48 Laban said, ‘This mound is a witness between you and me today.’ He therefore called it ‘stone mound’. 49 And he called the pillar “Mizpah”, for he said, ‘May the Lord keep watch between you and me, when we are out of each other’s sight: 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or you take other wives as well as my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God will be a witness between you and me.’
51 Then Laban added, ‘See this mound and the pillar which I have placed between you and me; 52 this mound is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this mound to do you harm, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this pillar to do me harm. 53 May the god of Abraham and the god of Nahor (the deities of their forefathers) judge between us.’ Jacob then swore by the Awesome One of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the hillside and called his relatives to eat bread; and they ate bread and spent all the night on the hillside.
55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; and then he left and returned home.
Genesis 32:1-12
1 While Jacob went on his way, he was met by the angels of God. 2 When Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God's camp!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.
3 Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 with these instructions, ‘This is what you are to say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been living with Laban all this time, until now; 5 and I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants; and I have sent this message to you, my master, so that I may win your favour.”’
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, ‘We found Esau, your brother, and he is coming to meet you together with four hundred men!’ 7 Jacob was alarmed and distressed; he divided everyone with him into two groups, as well as the flocks, herds and camels, 8 thinking, ‘If Esau attacks one group and destroys it, then the other group will escape.’ 9 And Jacob prayed, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, You told me, O Lord, “Return to your country and your family, and I will do good things with you,” 10 I am unworthy of any of the faithful love and all loyalty you have shown your servant. I crossed the Jordan with only a staff; and now I have become these two groups. 11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him, that he may come and kill us all, mothers and children alike. 12 Yet you have said, “I will be very good to you, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too numerous to count.”’
Genesis 32:13-21
13 Jacob spent the night there, and then he made a gift for his brother Esau from what he had with him; 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He placed these in the charge of his servants, in separate herds, and told his servants, ‘Go on ahead of me, with a space between each herd.’ 17 He also instructed the first servant, ‘When Esau my brother meets you, and asks, “Who are you doing this for? Where are you going? And who owns these animals in front of you?” 18 then you will answer, “They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a gift sent to my lord Esau; and he is coming along behind us.”’ 19 He said the same to the second and the third and to all who came afterwards with herds, "You must say the same to Esau when you meet him, 20 and you must say, “and he is coming along behind us.”’ For he thought, ‘I may placate him with the gift that I am sending on ahead, and then when I see his face; perhaps he will receive me.’ 21 So the gift went on ahead of him; but he spent that night himself in the camp.
Genesis 32:22-32
22 That night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok; 23 He took them and made them cross the stream, and sent over everything he had.
24 Jacob was left there alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he did not overcome him, he hit him on the side of his hip, and his hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, ‘Let me go, it is day break.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ 27 So he asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he replied, ‘Jacob.’ 28 He said, ‘You will not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with others, and have overcome.’ 29 Then Jacob asked, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ And with that, he blessed him, right there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘This is because I have seen God face to face, and yet I have survived!’ 31 The sun rose on him as he passed Peniel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day, the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle of the hip joint, because Jacob was struck on the hip near the thigh muscle.
Genesis 33:1-11
1 Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming together with four hundred men, so he divided the children between Leah and Rachel and the two maidservants. 2 He put the maidservants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He went on ahead of them himself, bowing down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and took him in his arms and kissed him; and they wept. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, ‘Who are these people with you?’ and Jacob answered, ‘They are the children God has graciously given your servant.’ 6 Then the maidservants drew near, together with their children; and they bowed down. 7 Next, Leah and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.
8 Esau then said, ‘What was the purpose of the herds of livestock that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘To find favour with my lord.’ 9 But Esau said, ‘I have plenty, my brother; keep what is yours for yourself.’ 10 Jacob said, ‘No, please; if I have won your favour, then please accept this gift from me. You have received me with such favour, to see you is like seeing the face of God! 11 So please accept the blessing I offer you, because God has dealt graciously with me and I have all I need.’ Because Jacob insisted, he took it.
Genesis 33:12-20
12 Then Esau said, ‘Let us continue our journey, and I will go with you.’ 13 But Jacob replied to him, ‘As my lord can see, the children are frail. Moreover, I am concerned about the nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven too hard in one day, they will die. 14 Let my lord travel on before his servant; for I must go slowly according to the pace of the livestock ahead of me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.’ 15 So Esau said, "Let me at least leave with you some of my men.’ But Jacob replied, ‘for what reason? Let me find favour in the eyes of my lord.’ 16 So that day, Esau turned back towards Seir.
17 Jacob, however, journeyed towards Succoth, where he built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth.
18 Then, after coming from Paddan-Aram, Jacob arrived at Saleem (near Shechem) in the land of Canaan, and he set up camp within sight of the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought a plot of land on which to pitch his tent, for one hundred pieces of silver. 20 He erected an altar there and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
Genesis 34:1-17
1 Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went off to see the local women. 2 When the ruler of that place saw her, that is, Shechem the son of Hamor, he raped her. 3 His soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke to her with passion. 4 So Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get this girl for me as a wife.’ 5 Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, but his sons were in the in the fields with his livestock, so he thought about what to do until they came home.
6 Shechem’s father Hamor came to Jacob to speak with him, 7 and Jacob’s sons came in from the field as soon as they heard the news. They were offended and outraged because Shechem had acted disgracefully against Israel, something that was totally unacceptable. 8 Nevertheless, Hamor appealed to them, ‘My son Shechem is completely in love with your daughter, please give her to him in marriage. 9 Let marriages happen between us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can then live alongside us and the land will be open to you. Live in it, trade in it and obtain property.’ 11 Shechem also appealed to Dinah’s father and to her brothers, ‘Please do me this favour and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 However high you set the bridal price, I will pay you whatever you ask, but please do give me the girl as my wife.
13 Then Jacob’s sons replied to Shechem and his father with deceit, because their sister Dinah had been defiled. 14 ‘We cannot do this,’ they said, ‘because we cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. For us, that would be a scandal. 15 We will agree with you only on this condition; that you become like us, and every man among you be circumcised. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not agree to these terms and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.’
Genesis 34:18-31
18 The proposal pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay to do what was required because the thought of Jacob’s daughter gave him great pleasure, and he was the most privileged of all his father’s sons. 20 So Hamor and Shechem went to the gates of their city and had a discussion with the city elders. They said 21 ‘These men are friendly towards us; let them live amongst us and do business here for there is enough land for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But they will agree to live among us with one condition only, and that is that our men be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, property and all their animals become ours as well? Let us agree to their condition and then they can live amongst us.’ 24 All who left the meeting agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and everyone at the meeting and all the males of the city were circumcised.
25 On the third day, when they were still sore, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons who were Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the city without difficulty and slaughtered every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s other sons then followed up the slaughter by plundering the city in response to the outrage against their sister. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else they found in the city and the fields. 29 They made off with all their possessions, their women and their children, and they looted their houses.
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me by making me loathsome to the people who live here, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. There are only a few of us, and if they join forces against us and attack us, we shall all be destroyed! Both me and my household!’ 31 But they responded, ‘Should our sister have been treated like a prostitute?’
Genesis 35:1-8
1 God said to Jacob, ‘Get up and go to Bethel. Settle there, and make an altar there dedicated to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’ 2 So Jacob spoke to his family and all those who were with him; he said ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, then purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 We shall now go to Bethel, where I will make an altar to the God who answered me at the time I was in distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’ 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they possessed, and the earrings they were wearing; and he buried them under the oak at Shechem.
5 As they travelled, an awesome fear from God fell upon the towns all around them, and no-one attempted to come after the sons of Jacob.
6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz in the land of Canaan (that is, Bethel). 7 There he built an altar and named the place El-bethel, because this was where God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.
8 Deborah, who was Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried near to Bethel, under the oak tree. So it was called ‘Allon-Bacuth’.
Genesis 35:9-15
9 When Jacob arrived from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again, and blessed him. 10 God said to him, ‘The name you were given was Jacob, but you will have this name no more. Your name will be Israel.’ This is how he came to be called ‘Israel’. 11 God also said to him, ‘I am God Almighty: be fruitful and increase in numbers; a nation and a group of nations will come into being from you, and kings will be descended from you. 12 I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.’
13 Then God arose and left him, and at the place where he had spoken with him 14 Jacob set up a stone monument pillar, a pillar of stone at this very place. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15 Jacob then called the place Bethel, for God had spoken with him there.
Genesis 35:16-29
16 Then they travelled on from Bethel; and when they were still some way from Ephrath, Rachel went into labour, which became extremely stressful. 17 As she gave birth with great difficulty, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid; you have another son!’ 18 But as she passed away (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a memorial stone at her grave; the monument of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel travelled on, and pitched his tent beyond Migdal-Eder.
22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Israel came to know about it.
The sons of Jacob were now twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Now Isaac was one hundred eighty years old. 29 Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
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