Study Desk

Jacob came in from the fields that night. Leah saw him and went out to meet him. She said, "You will sleep with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son's flowers." So Jacob slept with Leah that night.

She said, "God has given me a reward because I gave my slave to my husband." So she named her son Issachar.

She said, "God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will accept me, because I have given him six sons." So she named this son Zebulun.

So the sons took all the spotted animals and led them to another place. They traveled for three days. Jacob stayed and took care of all the animals that were left.

Then Jacob cut green branches from poplar and almond trees. He stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.

But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the young animals born from the weak animals were Laban's. And the young animals born from the stronger animals were Jacob's.

So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks of sheep and goats.

"At one time Laban said, ‘You can keep all the goats with spots. This will be your pay.' After he said this, all the animals gave birth to spotted goats, so they were all mine. But then Laban said, ‘I will keep the spotted goats. You can have all the striped goats. That will be your pay.' After he said this, all the animals gave birth to striped goats.

So God has taken the animals away from your father and has given them to me.

"The angel said, ‘Look, only the striped and spotted goats are mating. I am causing this to happen. I have seen all the wrong things Laban has been doing to you. I am doing this so that you can have all the new baby goats.

God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So you should do whatever God told you to do."

So Jacob prepared for the trip. He put his children and his wives on camels.

So he gathered his men together and began to chase Jacob. After seven days Laban found Jacob near the hill country of Gilead.

The next morning Laban caught up with Jacob. Jacob had set up his camp on the mountain, so Laban and all his men set up their camp in the hill country of Gilead.

So Laban went and looked through Jacob's camp. He looked in Jacob's tent and then in Leah's tent. Then he looked in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find the gods from his house. Then he went into Rachel's tent.

And Rachel said to her father, "Father, don't be angry with me. I am not able to stand up before you. I am having my monthly time of bleeding." So Laban looked through the camp, but he did not find the gods from his house.

So I am ready to make an agreement with you. We will set up a pile of stones to show that we have an agreement."

So Jacob found a large rock and put it there to show that he had made an agreement.

Then Laban said, "Let the Lord watch over us while we are separated from each other." So that place was also named Mizpah.

May the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their ancestors judge us guilty if we break this agreement." Jacob's father, Isaac, called God "Fear." So Jacob used that name to make the promise.