One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 65
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seven days later in the hill country of
Gilead. 24 But the previous night God
had appeared to Laban the Aramean
in a dream and told him, “I’m warning
you—leave Jacob alone!”
25 La
ban caught up with Jacob as
he was camped in the hill country of
Gilead, and he set up his camp not far
from Jacob’s. 26 “What do you mean
by deceiving me like this?” Laban
demanded. “How dare you drag my
daughters away like prisoners of war?
27 Why did you slip away secretly? Why
did you deceive me? And why didn’t
you say you wanted to leave? I would
have given you a farewell feast, with
singing and music, accompanied by
tambourines and harps. 28 Why didn’t
you let me kiss my daughters and
grandchildren and tell them good-
bye? You have acted very foolishly!
29 I could destroy you, but the God of
your father appeared to me last night
and warned me, ‘Leave Jacob alone!’
30 I can understand your feeling that
you must go, and your intense longing
for your father’s home. But why have
you stolen my gods?”
31 “I rushed away because I was
afraid,” Jacob answered. “I thought
you would take your daughters from
me by force. 32 But as for your gods,
see if you can find them, and let the
person who has taken them die! And
if you find anything else that belongs
to you, identify it before all these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!”
But Jacob did not know that Rachel
had stolen the household idols.
33 Laban went first into Jacob’s tent
to search there, then into Leah’s,
and then the tents of the two servant
wives—but he found nothing. Finally,
he went into Rachel’s tent. 34 But Ra
chel had taken the household idols
and hidden them in her camel saddle,
and now she was sitting on them.
When Laban had thoroughly searched
her tent without finding them, 35 she
said to her father, “Please, sir, forgive
me if I don’t get up for you. I’m having
my monthly period.” So Laban continued his search, but he could not find
the household idols.
January 15
36 Then
Jacob became very angry,
and he challenged Laban. “What’s my
crime?” he demanded. “What have I
done wrong to make you chase after
me as though I were a criminal? 37 You
have rummaged through everything I
own. Now show me what you found
that belongs to you! Set it out here in
front of us, before our relatives, for all
to see. Let them judge between us!
38 “For twenty years I have been
with you, caring for your flocks. In all
that time your sheep and goats never
miscarried. In all those years I never
used a single ram of yours for food.
39 If any were attacked and killed by
wild animals, I never showed you the
carcass and asked you to reduce the
count of your flock. No, I took the loss
myself! You made me pay for e very
stolen animal, whether it was taken in
broad daylight or in the dark of night.
40 “I worked for you through the
scorching heat of the day and through
cold and sleepless nights. 41 Yes, for
twenty years I slaved in your house!
I worked for fourteen years earning
your two daughters, and then six more
years for your flock. And you changed
my wages ten times! 42 In fact, if the
God of my father had not been on my
side—the God of Abraham and the
fearsome God of Isaac*—you would
have sent me away empty-handed. But
God has seen your abuse and my hard
work. That is why he appeared to you
last night and rebuked you!”
43 Then La
ban replied to Jacob,
“These women are my daughters,
these children are my grandchildren,
and these flocks are my f locks—in fact,
everything you see is mine. But what
can I do now about my daughters and
their children? 44 So come, let’s make
a covenant, you and I, and it will be a
witness to our commitment.”
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it
up as a monument. 46 Then he told
his family members, “Gather some
stones.” So they gathered stones and
piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and
Laban sat down beside the pile of
stones to eat a covenant meal. 47 To
commemorate the event, Laban called
