Jacob immediately put his wives and children on camels and took with him all the livestock and everything he had amassed in Paddan-Aram. He set out to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
One day, when Laban had gone to his fields to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. Jacob had outwitted Laban the Aramean by secretly departing without telling him. He fled with all that he had, and after crossing the Euphrates, he headed for the hill country of Gilead. And it wasn’t until three days later that Laban discovered Jacob had left.
Laban, along with some of his relatives, took off in pursuit and chased after Jacob for seven days. He had almost caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead, when God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful that you neither harm nor threaten Jacob.”
Now Jacob had set up his camp with his flocks on a hill, and Laban had him in his sights. Laban and his companions set up their camp nearby. Laban approached Jacob and said, “Nephew, what have you done? You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters like captives on a battlefield. Why did you trick me and run away in secret without telling me? I would have sent you off joyously, celebrating with singing and dancing to the tambourine and stringed instruments. And why did you not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren goodbye? What you have done is foolish! I could harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me in a dream last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you neither harm nor threaten Jacob.’ Now I realize you ran away because you desperately long to return to your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
“I left in a hurry because I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “and I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! So here, in the presence of our relatives, if you can find among our possessions anything that is yours, take it.” Now Jacob had no clue that Rachel had stolen the gods.
Laban went immediately into Jacob’s tent to search. Then he went into the tents of Zilpah and Bilhah but found nothing. After searching Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s. Now Rachel had taken the family gods and put them in her camel’s cushion and sat on them. She said to her father, “Please my father, don’t be angry if I don’t rise before you, for I’m having my period.” When he rummaged through her tent, he did not find them.
Then Jacob became angry and complained to Laban, “What have I done wrong? What sin have I committed that you would hotly pursue me as if you were chasing a criminal? You have rummaged through all my things, and did you find anything of your own property? If you did, set them here in front of your relatives and mine. Let them decide between the two of us.”
Jacob continued, “For the last twenty years I have served you, and the whole time your sheep and goats did not miscarry, nor did I feast on any of your rams. If one from your flock was mauled by a wild beast, I didn’t bring it to you; I absorbed the loss myself. And you always made me pay for any missing animal, whether snatched by day or by night. Many times, scorching heat consumed me by day and hard frost by night; I endured sleepless nights. For these twenty years that I’ve lived among you, I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks. And besides all that, you’ve reduced my wages over and over. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Awesome One of Isaac , had not been on my side, you certainly would have sent me away empty-handed! But God in his mercy took notice of how much I’ve suffered and how hard I’ve worked—and that’s why he rebuked you last night in your dream!”
Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren; and the flocks are mine. In fact, everything you see belongs to me. But from today I will not be able to do anything more for my daughters and grandchildren. Come now, let’s form a covenant between you and me. Let it endure as a witness between us.” So Jacob took a stone, set it up as a pillar, and in the presence of his relatives, he said to them, “Everyone gather stones, and place them here in a pile.” And they did so, and afterward, they ate together next to the heap of stones. Laban and Jacob named the place in both languages, Aramaic and Hebrew, calling it Witness Heap. And Laban said, “Today, this heap of stones will be a witness between you and me of our enduring friendship.” He called it Witness Heap and Watchpost, for Laban declared, “May YAHWEH keep his eyes on us when we are absent from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women besides my daughters, remember that even though no one else is with us, God is watching us. Here is the heap of stones and here is the memorial pillar that stands between us. This heap and this pillar stand as witnesses that I will never pass beyond them to harm you and that you will never pass beyond them to harm me. Now may the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor judge between us!”
Jacob made his vow by the Awesome One of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called everyone together for a meal, and they remained there all night on the mountain.
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