Genesis 31:44-55

Jacob Flees from Laban

44 Come now, j let us make a covenant, you and I. k And let it be a witness between you and me." 45 So Jacob l took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, 1 but Jacob called it Galeed. 2 48 Laban said, m "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed, 49 n and Mizpah, 3 for he said, "The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. 50 If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, o God is witness between you and me."

51 Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 p This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the q Fear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called r his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

55 4 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed s his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

  1. Cross References
    Genesis 26:28
    They said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you.
  2. Cross References
    Joshua 24:27
    And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 28:18
    So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 31:44
    Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.
  5. Cross References
    Judges 11:29
    Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
    Judges 11:34
    Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
  6. Cross References
    Judges 11:10
    And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.
    1 Samuel 12:5
    And he said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." And they said, "He is witness.
    Jeremiah 42:5
    Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us.
    Micah 1:2
    Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
    Job 16:19
    Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 31:43 - 44
    Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne?
  8. Cross References
    Genesis 31:42
    If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 31:37
    For 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.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 31:28
    And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.
    Genesis 31:43
    Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.