Genesis 31:1-20

Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were complaining, “Everything Jacob owns he has taken from our father! He gained all his wealth from what our father owned.” And Jacob saw that Laban no longer viewed him favorably as he once did. Then YAHWEH said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors where you were born; and remember, I will be with you.” So Jacob sent a message for Leah and Rachel to meet him in the field where his flocks were grazing. When they arrived, he said to them, “I can see that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. You both know I have worked for your father as hard as I could, although he has cheated me and reduced my wages over and over. Yet God has not allowed him to harm me. If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said, ‘The striped ones will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Because of these miracles, God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me!” Jacob continued, “Once during the breeding season, I had a dream. I saw that the male goats who were mating were all speckled, streaked, or spotted. In the dream, the angel of God called me by my name, ‘Jacob.’ ” “ ‘I am here,’ I answered. “Then he said, ‘Observe and note that all the male goats that are mating are speckled, streaked, or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’ ” Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Our father doesn’t want us to inherit a portion from his estate. Hasn’t he treated us as outsiders and not as members of his family? Not only did he sell us like property, but he has also spent our purchase price! Our father’s wealth that God has given you was legally ours and our children to begin with! So, go ahead and do whatever God has told you.” 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.