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41 Of the twenty years that I have now spent in your household, I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, while 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 on my side, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. But God saw my plight and the fruits of my toil, and last night he reproached you.”(A)

43 [a]Laban replied to Jacob: “The daughters are mine, their children are mine, and the flocks are mine; everything you see belongs to me. What can I do now for my own daughters and for the children they have borne?

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Footnotes

  1. 31:43–54 In this account of the non-aggression treaty between Laban and Jacob, the different objects that serve as witness (sacred pillar in v. 45, cairn of stones in v. 46), their different names (Jegar-sahadutha in v. 47, Mizpah in v. 49), and the two references to the covenant meal (vv. 46, 54) suggest that two versions have been fused. One version is the Yahwist source, and another source has been used to supplement it.

41 It was like this for the twenty years(A) I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters(B) and six years for your flocks,(C) and you changed my wages(D) ten times.(E) 42 If the God of my father,(F) the God of Abraham(G) and the Fear of Isaac,(H) had not been with me,(I) you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,(J) and last night he rebuked you.(K)

43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks.(L) All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?

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