18. and he drove all his livestock in front of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land of Canaan, where his father, Isaac, lived.
19. At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.
20. Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out secretly and never told Laban they were leaving.
21. So Jacob took all his possessions with him and crossed the Euphrates River, heading for the hill country of Gilead.
22. Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
23. So he gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Jacob 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. Laban 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.