311 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons , saying , "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's , and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth ." 2 Jacob saw the attitude of Laban , and behold , it was not friendly toward him as formerly . 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob , " Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives , and I will be with you." 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field , 5 and said to them, " I see your father's attitude , that it is not friendly toward me as formerly , but the God of my father has been with me. 6 " You know that I have served your father with all my strength . 7 "Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times ; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. 8 "If he spoke thus , 'The speckled shall be your wages ,' then all the flock brought forth speckled ; and if he spoke thus , 'The striped shall be your wages ,' then all the flock brought forth striped . 9 "Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. 10 "And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream , and behold , the male goats which were mating were striped , speckled , and mottled . 11 "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream , 'Jacob ,' and I said , 'Here I am.' 12 "He said , 'Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped , speckled , and mottled ; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 'I am the God of Bethel , where e you anointed a pillar , where e you made a vow to Me; now arise , leave this land , and return to the land of your birth .' " 14 Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house ? 15 "Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners ? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price . 16 "Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children ; now then, do whatever e God has said to you."

Jacob Flees from Laban

17 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels ; 18 and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered , his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram , to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac . 19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock , then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's . 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing . 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River , and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead . 22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled , 23 then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days' journey , and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead . 24 God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, " Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad ."

25 Laban caught up with Jacob . Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country , and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead . 26 Then Laban said to Jacob , "What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword ? 27 "Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs , with timbrel and with lyre ; 28 and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters ? Now you have done foolishly . 29 "It is in my power to do you harm , but the God of your father spoke to me last night , saying , ' Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob .' 30 "Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house ; but why did you steal my gods ?" 31 Then Jacob replied to Laban , "Because I was afraid , for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force . 32 " The one with whom you find your gods shall not live ; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maids , but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent . 34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle , and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. 35 She said to her father , "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot e rise before e you, for the manner of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the household idols .

36 Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban ; and Jacob said to Laban , "What is my transgression ? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? 37 "Though you have felt through all my goods , what have you found of all your household goods ? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen , that they may decide between us two . 38 "These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried , nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks . 39 "That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself . You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night . 40 "Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night , and my sleep fled from my eyes . 41 "These twenty years I have been in your house ; I served you fourteen e years for your two daughters and six years for your flock , and you changed my wages ten times . 42 "If the God of my father , the God of Abraham , and the fear of Isaac , had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed . God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands , so He rendered judgment last night ."

43 Then Laban replied to Jacob , "The daughters are my daughters , and the children are my children , and the flocks are my flocks , and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne ? 44 "So now come , let us make a covenant , you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me." 45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar . 46 Jacob said to his kinsmen , "Gather stones ." So they took stones and made a heap , and they ate there by the heap . 47 Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha , but Jacob called it Galeed . 48 Laban said , " This heap is a witness between you and me this day ." Therefore e it was named e Galeed , 49 and Mizpah , for he said , "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other . 50 "If you mistreat my daughters , or if you take wives besides my daughters , although no man is with us, see , God is witness between you and me." 51 Laban said to Jacob , "Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. 52 "This heap is a witness , and the pillar is a witness , that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm . 53 " The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor , the God of their father , judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac . 54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain , and called his kinsmen to the meal e ; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain . 55 Early in the morning Laban arose , and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place .

Man's Disobedience

31 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made . And he said to the woman , "Indeed e , has God said , 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden '?" 2 The woman said to the serpent , " From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat ; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden , God has said , 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die .' " 4 The serpent said to the woman , "You surely will not die ! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened , and you will be like God , knowing good and evil ."

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food , and that it was a delight to the eyes , and that the tree was desirable to make one wise , she took from its fruit and ate ; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate . 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened , and they knew that they were naked ; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings . 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day , and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden .

9 Then the Lord God called to the man , and said to him, " Where are you?" 10 He said , " I heard the sound of You in the garden , and I was afraid because I was naked ; so I hid myself."

11 And He said , "Who told you that you were naked ? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat ?" 12 The man said , "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree , and I ate ." 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman , "What is this you have done ?" And the woman said , " The serpent deceived me, and I ate ."

14 The Lord God said to the serpent , " Because you have done this , Cursed are you more than all cattle , And more than every beast of the field ; On your belly you will go , And dust you will eat All the days of your life ; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman , And between your seed and her seed ; He shall bruise you on the head , And you shall bruise him on the heel ."

16 To the woman He said , "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth , In pain you will bring forth children ; Yet your desire will be for your husband , And he will rule over you."

17 Then to Adam He said , "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife , and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying , 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life . 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field ; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread , Till you return to the ground , Because from it you were taken ; For you are dust , And to dust you shall return ."

20 Now the man called his wife's name Eve , because she was the mother of all the living .

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife , and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said , "Behold , the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil ; and now , he might stretch out his hand , and take also from the tree of life , and eat , and live forever "- 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden , to cultivate the ground from which he was taken . 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life .