Genesis 31 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Postquam autem audivit verba filiorum Laban dicentium: Tulit Jacob omnia quæ fuerunt patris nostri, et de illius facultate ditatus, factus est inclytus:
1 Jacob heard Laban’s sons’ words, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. He has obtained all this wealth from that which was our father’s.”
2 animadvertit quoque faciem Laban, quod non esset erga se sicut heri et nudiustertius,
2 Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
3 maxime dicente sibi Domino: Revertere in terram patrum tuorum, et ad generationem tuam, eroque tecum.
3 Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
4 Misit, et vocavit Rachel et Liam in agrum, ubi pascebat greges,
4 Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock,
5 dixitque eis: Video faciem patris vestri quod non sit erga me sicut heri et nudiustertius: Deus autem patris mei fuit mecum.
5 and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.
6 Et ipsæ nostis quod totis viribus meis servierim patri vestro.
6 You know that I have served your father with all of my strength.
7 Sed et pater vester circumvenit me et mutavit mercedem meam decem vicibus: et tamen non dimisit eum Deus ut noceret mihi.
7 Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.
8 Si quando dixit: Variæ erunt mercedes tuæ: pariebant omnes oves varios fœtus; quando vero e contrario, ait: Alba quæque accipies pro mercede: omnes greges alba pepererunt.
8 If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore streaked.
9 Tulitque Deus substantiam patris vestri, et dedit mihi.
9 Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me.
10 Postquam enim conceptus ovium tempus advenerat, levavi oculos meos, et vidi in somnis ascendentes mares super feminas, varios et maculosos, et diversorum colorum.
10 During mating season, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled.
11 Dixitque angelus Dei ad me in somnis: Jacob? Et ego respondi: Adsum.
11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’
12 Qui ait: Leva oculos tuos, et vide universos masculos ascendentes super feminas, varios, maculosos, atque respersos. Vidi enim omnia quæ fecit tibi Laban.
12 He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you.
13 Ego sum Deus Bethel, ubi unxisti lapidem, et votum vovisti mihi. Nunc ergo surge, et egredere de terra hac, revertens in terram nativitatis tuæ.
13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”
14 Responderuntque Rachel et Lia: Numquid habemus residui quidquam in facultatibus et hæreditate domus patris nostri?
14 Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
15 nonne quasi alienas reputavit nos, et vendidit, comeditque pretium nostrum?
15 Aren’t we considered as foreigners by him? For he has sold us, and has also used up our money.
16 Sed Deus tulit opes patris nostri, et eas tradidit nobis, ac filiis nostris: unde omnia quæ præcepit tibi Deus, fac.
16 For all the riches which God has taken away from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
17 Surrexit itaque Jacob, et impositis liberis ac conjugibus suis super camelos, abiit.
17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels,
18 Tulitque omnem substantiam suam, et greges, et quidquid in Mesopotamia acquisierat, pergens ad Isaac patrem suum in terram Chanaan.
18 and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.
19 Eo tempore ierat Laban ad tondendas oves, et Rachel furata est idola patris sui.
19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.
20 Noluitque Jacob confiteri socero suo quod fugeret.
20 Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn’t tell him that he was running away.
21 Cumque abiisset tam ipse quam omnia quæ juris sui erant, et amne transmisso pergeret contra montem Galaad,
21 So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.
22 nuntiatum est Laban die tertio quod fugeret Jacob.
22 Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.
23 Qui, assumptis fratribus suis, persecutus est eum diebus septem: et comprehendit eum in monte Galaad.
23 He took his relatives with him, and pursued him seven days’ journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.
24 Viditque in somnis dicentem sibi Deum: Cave ne quidquam aspere loquaris contra Jacob.
24 God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”
25 Jamque Jacob extenderat in monte tabernaculum: cumque ille consecutus fuisset eum cum fratribus suis, in eodem monte Galaad fixit tentorium.
25 Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead.
26 Et dixit ad Jacob: Quare ita egisti, ut clam me abigeres filias meas quasi captivas gladio?
26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword?
27 cur ignorante me fugere voluisti, nec indicare mihi, ut prosequerer te cum gaudio, et canticis, et tympanis, et citharis?
27 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp;
28 Non es passus ut oscularer filios meos et filias: stulte operatus es: et nunc quidem
28 and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly.
29 valet manus mea reddere tibi malum: sed Deus patris vestri heri dixit mihi: Cave ne loquaris contra Jacob quidquam durius.
29 It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.’
30 Esto, ad tuos ire cupiebas, et desiderio erat tibi domus patris tui: cur furatus es deos meos?
30 Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my gods?”
31 Respondit Jacob: Quod inscio te profectus sum, timui ne violenter auferres filias tuas.
31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’
32 Quod autem furti me arguis: apud quemcumque inveneris deos tuos, necetur coram fratribus nostris: scrutare, quidquid tuorum apud me inveneris, et aufer. Hæc dicens, ignorabat quod Rachel furata esset idola.
32 Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 Ingressus itaque Laban tabernaculum Jacob, et Liæ, et utriusque famulæ, non invenit. Cumque intrasset tentorium Rachelis,
33 Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
34 illa festinans abscondit idola subter stramenta cameli, et sedit desuper: scrutantique omne tentorium, et nihil invenienti,
34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them.
35 ait: Ne irascatur dominus meus quod coram te assurgere nequeo: quia juxta consuetudinem feminarum nunc accidit mihi: sic delusa sollicitudo quærentis est.
35 She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’m having my period.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.
36 Tumensque Jacob, cum jurgio ait: Quam ob culpam meam, et ob quod peccatum meum sic exarsisti post me,
36 Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?
37 et scrutatus es omnem supellectilem meam? quid invenisti de cuncta substantia domus tuæ? pone hic coram fratribus meis, et fratribus tuis, et judicent inter me et te.
37 Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.
38 Idcirco viginti annis fui tecum? oves tuæ et capræ steriles non fuerunt, arietes gregis tui non comedi:
38 “These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.
39 nec captum a bestia ostendi tibi, ego damnum omne reddebam: quidquid furto peribat, a me exigebas:
39 That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
40 die noctuque æstu urebar, et gelu, fugiebatque somnus ab oculis meis.
40 This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.
41 Sicque per viginti annos in domo tua servivi tibi, quatuordecim pro filiabus, et sex pro gregibus tuis: immutasti quoque mercedem meam decem vicibus.
41 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
42 Nisi Deus patris mei Abraham, et timor Isaac affuisset mihi, forsitan modo nudum me dimisisses: afflictionem meam et laborem manuum mearum respexit Deus, et arguit te heri.
42 Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
43 Respondit ei Laban: Filiæ meæ et filii, et greges tui, et omnia quæ cernis, mea sunt: quid possum facere filiis et nepotibus meis?
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine! What can I do today to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?
44 Veni ergo, et ineamus fœdus, ut sit in testimonium inter me et te.
44 Now come, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be for a witness between me and you.”
45 Tulit itaque Jacob lapidem, et erexit illum in titulum:
45 Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
46 dixitque fratribus suis: Afferte lapides. Qui congregantes fecerunt tumulum, comederuntque super eum:
46 Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap.
47 quem vocavit Laban Tumulum testis: et Jacob, Acervum testimonii, uterque juxta proprietatem linguæ suæ.
47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Dixitque Laban: Tumulus iste erit testis inter me et te hodie, et idcirco appellatum est nomen ejus Galaad, id est, Tumulus testis.
48 Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed
49 Intueatur et judicet Dominus inter nos quando recesserimus a nobis,
49 and Mizpah, for he said, “Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another.
50 si afflixeris filias meas, et si introduxeris alias uxores super eas: nullus sermonis nostri testis est absque Deo, qui præsens respicit.
50 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you.”
51 Dixitque rursus ad Jacob: En tumulus hic, et lapis quem erexi inter me et te,
51 Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you.
52 testis erit: tumulus, inquam, iste et lapis sint in testimonium, si aut ego transiero illum pergens ad te, aut tu præterieris, malum mihi cogitans.
52 May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
53 Deus Abraham, et Deus Nachor, judicet inter nos, Deus patris eorum. Juravit ergo Jacob per timorem patris sui Isaac:
53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac.
54 immolatisque victimis in monte, vocavit fratres suos ut ederent panem. Qui cum comedissent, manserunt ibi:
54 Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain.
55 Laban vero de nocte consurgens, osculatus est filios, et filias suas, et benedixit illis: reversusque est in locum suum.
55 Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Rachel
Jacob's beloved wife, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, who died in childbirth.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 29-35
Cross references (51)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ecclesiastes 4:4; Psalm 17:14; Proverbs 27:4; Proverbs 14:30; 1 Peter 1:24
- 2 Daniel 3:19; 1 Samuel 18:9–11; Genesis 4:5; Genesis 30:27; 1 Samuel 19:7
- 3 Genesis 28:15; Hebrews 13:5; Genesis 32:9; Genesis 31:13; Psalm 50:15
- 5 Genesis 31:2–3; Genesis 31:53; Genesis 48:15; Genesis 31:42; Genesis 32:9
- 6 Genesis 30:29; Ephesians 6:5–8; Colossians 3:22–25; Genesis 31:38–42; Titus 2:9–10
- 7 Zechariah 8:23; Genesis 31:29; Genesis 31:41; Nehemiah 4:12; Numbers 14:22
- 8 Genesis 30:32
- 9 Genesis 31:1; Genesis 31:16; Proverbs 13:22; Matthew 20:15; Esther 8:1–2
- 10 Deuteronomy 13:1; Genesis 20:6; Numbers 12:6; 1 Kings 3:5; Genesis 31:24
- 11 Isaiah 58:9; Genesis 31:13; Genesis 48:15–16; Genesis 18:17; 1 Samuel 3:16
- 12 Exodus 3:7; Genesis 31:42; Deuteronomy 24:15; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ephesians 6:9
- 13 Genesis 31:3; Genesis 32:9; Genesis 28:12–22; Genesis 35:7
- 14 Ruth 4:11; Genesis 2:24; Genesis 29:29; Genesis 29:24
- 15 Genesis 29:15–20; Genesis 29:27–30; Nehemiah 5:8; Genesis 30:26; Exodus 21:7–11
- 16 Genesis 31:9; Genesis 30:35–31:1; Psalm 45:10
- 17 Genesis 24:61; 1 Samuel 30:17; Genesis 24:10
- 18 Genesis 27:41; Genesis 28:21; Genesis 27:1–2; Genesis 35:27–29
- 19 1 Samuel 19:13; Hosea 3:4; Genesis 31:30; Ezekiel 21:21; Genesis 35:2
- 21 2 Kings 12:17; Joshua 24:2–3; Genesis 37:25; Genesis 15:18; Luke 9:51–53
- 22 Exodus 14:5–31; Genesis 30:36; Job 5:12–13
- 23 Genesis 13:8; Exodus 2:11; Exodus 2:13; Genesis 24:27
- 24 Genesis 24:50; Genesis 20:3; Genesis 31:29; Numbers 24:13; Genesis 31:42
- 25 Genesis 33:18; Hebrews 11:9; Genesis 12:8
- 26 1 Samuel 30:2; Genesis 4:10; Genesis 31:36; 1 Samuel 17:29; Genesis 2:24
- 27 Exodus 15:20; Genesis 31:3–5; Proverbs 26:23–26; Job 21:11–14; Genesis 31:20–21
- 28 Genesis 31:55; 1 Kings 19:20; Ruth 1:14; Acts 20:37; Genesis 31:24
- 29 Genesis 31:42; Genesis 31:53; Joshua 24:2–3; Genesis 31:24; Genesis 28:13
- 30 Jeremiah 10:11; Genesis 31:19; Judges 18:24; 1 Samuel 5:2–6; 2 Samuel 5:21
- 31 Proverbs 29:25; Genesis 31:26–27; Genesis 20:11
- 32 Genesis 31:19; Genesis 31:23; 1 Samuel 12:3–5; Genesis 44:9–12; Genesis 31:30
- 33 Genesis 24:28; Genesis 24:67
- 34 Genesis 31:19; Genesis 31:17
- 35 Leviticus 19:32; Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1; 1 Kings 2:19; Genesis 18:11–12
- 36 Ephesians 4:26; Genesis 30:2; 2 Kings 5:11; Mark 3:5; Numbers 16:15
- 37 1 Peter 2:12; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Corinthians 6:4–5; 1 Thessalonians 2:10; Joshua 7:23
- 38 Deuteronomy 28:4; Ezekiel 34:2–4; Exodus 23:26; Genesis 30:27; Genesis 30:30
- 39 Exodus 22:10–13; Leviticus 22:8; Luke 2:8; Exodus 22:31; John 10:12–13
- 40 Psalm 78:70–71; Luke 2:8; Exodus 2:19–22; John 21:15–17; Hebrews 13:7
- 41 Genesis 31:7; Genesis 31:38; 2 Corinthians 11:26; Genesis 30:33–40; 1 Corinthians 15:10
- 42 Psalm 31:7; Isaiah 8:13; Genesis 31:53; Genesis 31:29; Genesis 31:24
- 44 Joshua 24:25–27; 1 Samuel 20:14–17; Genesis 15:18; Joshua 22:27; Deuteronomy 31:19
- 45 Genesis 28:18–22
- 46 Ecclesiastes 3:5; Genesis 31:37; Genesis 31:32; Joshua 4:5–9; Joshua 7:26
- 47 Hebrews 12:1
- 48 Joshua 24:27; Joshua 13:8–9; Genesis 31:23; Deuteronomy 3:16; Deuteronomy 2:36
- 49 Judges 11:29; Judges 10:17; 1 Samuel 7:5–6; Judges 11:11; 1 Kings 15:22
- 50 Jeremiah 42:5; Jeremiah 29:23; Micah 1:2; Judges 11:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:5
- 52 Genesis 31:48; Genesis 31:44–45
- 53 Genesis 31:42; Genesis 16:5; Exodus 3:6; Joshua 24:2; Genesis 11:24–29
- 54 Exodus 18:12; Genesis 26:30; 2 Samuel 3:20–21; Genesis 21:8; Genesis 37:25
- 55 Genesis 31:28; Deuteronomy 23:5; Genesis 30:25; Genesis 18:33; Proverbs 16:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For not only did not the nations in this life serve this Jacob; but even after he had received the blessing, he himself going forth [from his home], served his uncle Laban the Syrian for twenty years; and not only was he not made lord of his brother, but he did himself bow down before his brother Esau, upon his …
In fact, "a testament" is a name given in the Scriptures not only to that which is of no avail till the death of the testators, but every covenant and decree they used to call a testament. For Laban and Jacob made a testament, which was certainly to have force between the living; and such cases without number are read …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
Moreover, Joshua, the son of Nun, even set up a stone as witness of his words (already a heap somewhere had been called a witness by Jacob), for he says, "Behold this stone shall be a witness unto you this day to the end of days, when ye lie to the Lord our God," perhaps believing that by God's power …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)