Book of Jasher, Chapter 31 — Laban's Deception; Leah and Rachel; Jacob's Children; the Flight from Haran; the Covenant of Gilead; Laban Stirs Up Esau
1And in the seventh year, Jacob's service which he had served Laban was completed, and Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for the days of my service are fulfilled; and Laban did so, and Laban and Jacob assembled all the people of that place, and they made a feast.
2And in the evening Laban came to the house, and afterward Jacob came there with the people of the feast, and Laban extinguished all the lights that were there in the house.
3And Jacob said to Laban, Why do you do this thing to us? and Laban answered, Such is our custom to act in this land.
4And afterward Laban took his daughter Leah, and he brought her to Jacob, and he came to her, and Jacob did not know that she was Leah.
5And Laban gave his daughter Leah his maid Zilpah for a handmaid.
6And all the people at the feast knew what Laban had done to Jacob, but they did not tell the thing to Jacob.
7And all the neighbors came that night to Jacob's house, and they ate and drank and rejoiced, and played before Leah upon timbrels and with dances, and they responded before Jacob, Heleah, Heleah.
8And Jacob heard their words but did not understand their meaning, but he thought such might be their custom in this land.
9And the neighbors spoke these words before Jacob during the night; and all the lights that were in the house Laban had that night extinguished.
10And in the morning, when daylight appeared, Jacob turned to his wife, and he saw, and behold, it was Leah that had been lying in his bosom, and Jacob said, Behold, now I know what the neighbors said last night — Heleah, they said, and I did not know it.
11And Jacob called to Laban, and said to him, What is this that you have done to me? Surely I served you for Rachel; and why did you deceive me, and give me Leah?
12And Laban answered Jacob, saying, It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the elder; now therefore, if you desire to take her sister likewise, take her to yourself for the service which you will serve me for another seven years.
13And Jacob did so, and he also took Rachel for a wife, and he served Laban seven years more; and Jacob also came to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah; and Laban gave her his maid Bilhah for a handmaid.
14And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, the Lord opened her womb, and she conceived and bore Jacob four sons in those days.
15And these are their names: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; and she afterward left off bearing.
16And at that time Rachel was barren, and she had no offspring, and Rachel envied her sister Leah; and when Rachel saw that she bore no children to Jacob, she took her handmaid Bilhah, and she bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.
17And when Leah saw that she had left off bearing, she also took her handmaid Zilpah, and she gave her to Jacob for a wife, and Jacob also came to Zilpah, and she also bore Jacob two sons, Gad and Asher.
18And Leah again conceived and bore Jacob in those days two sons and one daughter, and these are their names: Issachar, Zebulon, and their sister Dinah.
19And Rachel was still barren in those days, and Rachel prayed to the Lord at that time, and she said, O Lord God, remember me and visit me, I beseech you, for now my husband will cast me off, for I have borne him no children.
20Now, O Lord God, hear my supplication before you, and see my affliction, and give me children like one of the handmaids, that I may no more bear my reproach.
21And God heard her and opened her womb, and Rachel conceived and bore a son, and she said, The Lord has taken away my reproach; and she called his name Joseph, saying, May the Lord add to me another son; and Jacob was ninety-one years old when she bore him.
22At that time Jacob's mother, Rebecca, sent her nurse Deborah the daughter of Uz, and two of Isaac's servants, to Jacob.
23And they came to Jacob, to Haran, and they said to him, Rebecca has sent us to you, that you shall return to your father's house, to the land of Canaan; and Jacob listened to them in this which his mother had spoken.
24At that time, the other seven years which Jacob served Laban for Rachel were completed, and it was at the end of fourteen years that he had dwelt in Haran that Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wives, and send me away, that I may go to my land; for behold, my mother sent to me from the land of Canaan that I should return to my father's house.
25And Laban said to him, Not so, I pray you; if I have found favor in your sight, do not leave me; appoint me your wages, and I will give them, and remain with me.
26And Jacob said to him, This is what you shall give me for wages: that I shall this day pass through all your flock, and take away from them every lamb that is speckled and spotted, and such as are brown among the sheep and among the goats; and if you will do this thing for me, I will return and feed your flock and keep them as at first.
27And Laban did so, and Laban removed from his flock all that Jacob had said, and gave them to him.
28And Jacob placed all that he had removed from Laban's flock in the hands of his sons, and Jacob went on feeding the remainder of Laban's flock.
29And when the servants of Isaac whom he had sent to Jacob saw that Jacob would not then return with them to the land of Canaan, to his father, they then went away from him, and they returned home to the land of Canaan.
30And Deborah remained with Jacob in Haran, and she did not return with the servants of Isaac to the land of Canaan; and Deborah resided with Jacob's wives and children in Haran.
31And Jacob served Laban six years longer; and when the sheep brought forth, Jacob removed from them such as were speckled and spotted, as he had determined with Laban; and Jacob did so at Laban's for six years, and the man increased abundantly, and he had cattle and maid servants and men servants, camels and donkeys.
32And Jacob had two hundred droves of cattle, and his cattle were of large size and of beautiful appearance, and were very productive; and all the families of the sons of men desired to get some of the cattle of Jacob, for they were exceedingly prosperous.
33And many of the sons of men came to procure some of Jacob's flock, and Jacob gave them a sheep for a man servant or a maid servant, or for an donkey or a camel, or whatever Jacob desired from them they gave him.
34And Jacob obtained riches and honor and possessions by means of these transactions with the sons of men, and the children of Laban envied him this honor.
35And in the course of time he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and of that which was our father's has he acquired all this glory.
36And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban and of his children, and behold, it was not toward him in those days as it had been before.
37And the Lord appeared to Jacob at the expiration of the six years, and said to him, Arise, go forth out of this land, and return to the land of your birthplace, and I will be with you.
38And Jacob rose up at that time, and he mounted his children and wives and all belonging to him upon camels, and he went forth to go to the land of Canaan, to his father Isaac.
39And Laban did not know that Jacob had gone from him, for Laban had been that day sheep-shearing.
40And Rachel stole her father's images, and she took them and she concealed them upon the camel upon which she sat, and she went on.
41And this is the manner of the images: taking a man who is a firstborn and slaying him and taking the hair off his head, and taking salt and salting the head and anointing it in oil, then taking a small tablet of copper or a tablet of gold and writing the name upon it, and placing the tablet under his tongue, and taking the head with the tablet under the tongue and putting it in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it.
42And at the time when they bow down to it, it speaks to them in all matters that they ask of it, through the power of the name which is written in it.
43And some make them in the figures of men, of gold and silver, and go to them at times known to them, and the figures receive the influence of the stars and tell them future things; and in this manner were the images which Rachel stole from her father.
44And Rachel stole these images which were her father's, in order that Laban might not know through them where Jacob had gone.
45And Laban came home, and he asked concerning Jacob and his household, and he was not to be found; and Laban sought his images, to know where Jacob had gone, and could not find them; and he went to some other images, and he inquired of them, and they told him that Jacob had fled from him to his father's, to the land of Canaan.
46And Laban then rose up, and he took his brothers and all his servants, and he went forth and pursued Jacob, and he overtook him in Mount Gilead.
47And Laban said to Jacob, What is this you have done to me, to flee and deceive me, and lead my daughters and their children as captives taken by the sword?
48And you did not allow me to kiss them and send them away with joy, and you stole my gods and went away.
49And Jacob answered Laban, saying, Because I was afraid lest you would take your daughters by force from me; and now, with whomever you find your gods, he shall die.
50And Laban searched for the images, and he examined all Jacob's tents and furniture, but could not find them.
51And Laban said to Jacob, We will make a covenant together, and it shall be a testimony between me and you; if you shall afflict my daughters, or take other wives besides my daughters, even God shall be a witness between me and you in this matter.
52And they took stones and made a heap, and Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you; therefore he called the name of it Gilead.
53And Jacob and Laban offered sacrifice upon the mount, and they ate there by the heap, and they stayed on the mount all night; and Laban rose up early in the morning, and he wept with his daughters and he kissed them, and he returned to his place.
54And he hastened and sent off his son Beor, who was seventeen years old, with Abichorof the son of Uz, the son of Nahor, and with them were ten men.
55And they hastened and went and passed on the road before Jacob, and they came by another road to the land of Seir.
56And they came to Esau and said to him, Thus says your brother and relative, your mother's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel, saying,
57Have you heard what Jacob your brother has done to me, who first came to me naked and bare, and I went to meet him, and brought him to my house with honor, and I made him great, and I gave him my two daughters for wives, and also two of my maids?
58And God blessed him on my account, and he increased abundantly, and had sons and daughters and maid servants.
59He has also an immense stock of flocks and herds, camels and donkeys, also silver and gold in abundance; and when he saw that his wealth increased, he left me while I went to shear my sheep, and he rose up and fled in secrecy.
60And he lifted his wives and children upon camels, and he led away all his cattle and property which he acquired in my land, and he lifted up his countenance to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan.
61And he did not allow me to kiss my daughters and their children, and he led my daughters as captives taken by the sword, and he also stole my gods, and he fled.
62And now I have left him in the mountain of the brook of Jabuk, him and all belonging to him; he lacks nothing.
63If it is your wish to go to him, go then, and there you will find him, and you can do to him as your soul desires; and Laban's messengers came and told Esau all these things.
64And Esau heard all the words of Laban's messengers, and his anger was greatly kindled against Jacob, and he remembered his hatred, and his anger burned within him.
65And Esau hastened and took his children and servants and the souls of his household, being sixty men, and he went and assembled all the children of Seir the Horite and their people, being three hundred and forty men, and took all this number of four hundred men with drawn swords, and he went to Jacob to smite him.
66And Esau divided this number into several parts, and he took the sixty men of his children and servants and the souls of his household as one head, and gave them into the care of Eliphaz his eldest son.
67And the remaining heads he gave into the care of the six sons of Seir the Horite, and he placed every man over his generations and children.
68And the whole of this camp went as it was, and Esau went among them toward Jacob, and he conducted them with speed.
69And Laban's messengers departed from Esau and went to the land of Canaan, and they came to the house of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
70And they told her, saying, Behold, your son Esau has gone against his brother Jacob with four hundred men, for he heard that he was coming, and he has gone to make war with him, and to smite him and to take all that he has.
71And Rebecca hastened and sent seventy-two men from the servants of Isaac to meet Jacob on the road; for she said, Perhaps Esau may make war on the road when he meets him.
72And these messengers went on the road to meet Jacob, and they met him on the road of the brook, on the opposite side of the brook Jabuk; and Jacob said when he saw them, This camp is destined to me from God; and Jacob called the name of that place Machnayim.
73And Jacob knew all his father's people, and he kissed them and embraced them and came with them; and Jacob asked them concerning his father and mother, and they said, They are well.
74And these messengers said to Jacob, Rebecca your mother has sent us to you, saying, I have heard, my son, that your brother Esau has gone forth against you on the road with men from the children of Seir the Horite.
75And therefore, my son, listen to my voice, and see with your counsel what you will do; and when he comes up to you, supplicate him, and do not speak rashly to him, and give him a present from what you possess, and from what God has favored you with.
76And when he asks you concerning your affairs, conceal nothing from him; perhaps he may turn from his anger against you, and you will thereby save your soul, you and all belonging to you; for it is your duty to honor him, for he is your elder brother.
77And when Jacob heard the words of his mother which the messengers had spoken to him, Jacob lifted up his voice and wept bitterly, and did as his mother then commanded him.