ያዕቆብ ከላባ ቤት ኰበለለ
1የላባ ወንዶች ልጆች፣ “ያዕቆብ የአባታችንን ሀብት እንዳለ ወስዶታል፤ ይህ ሁሉ እርሱ ያካበተውም ሀብት ከአባታችን የተገኘ ነው” እያሉ ሲያወሩ ያዕቆብ ሰማ። 2የላባ አመለካከት ከቀድሞው የተለወጠበት መሆኑንም ያዕቆብ ተረዳ።
3እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) ያዕቆብን፣ “ወደ አባቶችህና ዘመዶችህ አገር ተመለስ፤ እኔም ካንተ ጋር እሆናለሁ” አለው።
4ስለዚህም ያዕቆብ መንጎቹ ወደ ተሰማሩበት መስክ እንዲመጡ፣ ራሔልንና ልያን አስጠራቸው፤ 5እንዲህም አላቸው፤ “አባታችሁ ስለ እኔ ያለው አመለካከት እንደ ቀድሞው አለመሆኑን ተረድቻለሁ፤ ቢሆንም የአባቴ አምላክ (ኤሎሂም) አልተለየኝም፤ 6መቼም ባለኝ ዐቅም አባታችሁን ማገልገሌ ከእናንተ የተሰወረ አይደለም። 7አባታችሁ ደሞዜን ዐሥር ጊዜ እየለዋወጠ አታልሎኛል፣ ሆኖም እንዲጐዳኝ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) አልፈቀደለትም። 8እርሱ፣ ‘ደመወዝህ ዝንጕርጕሮቹ ይሆናሉ’ ሲለኝ፣ መንጎቹ ሁሉ ዝንጕርጕር ወለዱ፤ ደግሞም ‘ደመወዝህ ሽመልመሌዎቹ ይሆናሉ’ ሲለኝ፣ መንጎቹ ሁሉ ሽመልመሌ መልክ ያላቸውን ወለዱ፤ 9ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) የአባታችሁን ከብቶች ወስዶ ለእኔ ሰጠኝ።
10“እንስሳቱ በሚጠቁበት ወራት፣ የሚያጠቋቸው አውራ ፍየሎች መልካቸው፣ ሽመልመሌ፣ ዝንጕርጕርና ነቍጣ ያለባቸው መሆናቸውን ዐይኔን አንሥቼ በሕልሜ አየሁ። 11የእግዚአብሔርም (ኤሎሂም) መልአክ፣ ‘ያዕቆብ’ አለኝ፤ እኔም፣ ‘እነሆ አለሁኝ’ አልሁት። 12እርሱም ‘መንጎቹን የሚያጠቋቸው አውራ ፍየሎች ሁሉ ሽመልመሌ መልክ ያላቸው፣ ዝንጕርጕርና ነቍጣ ያለባቸው መሆናቸውን ቀና ብለህ ተመልከት፤ ላባ በአንተ ላይ የሚፈጽመውን ድርጊት ሁሉ አይቻለሁና፤ 13የድንጋይ ሐውልት በማቆም ዘይት ቀብተህ የተሳልህባት የቤቴል አምላክ (ኤል) እኔ ነኝ፤ አሁንም ይህን አገር ፈጥነህ ልቀቅና ወደ ተወለድህበትም ምድር ተመልሰህ ሂድ’ አለኝ።”
14ራሔልና ልያም እንዲህ ብለው መለሱለት፤ “ከአባታችን ሀብት የምናገኘው ምን ውርስ አለ? 15እኛን የሚያየን እንደ ባዕድ አይደለምን? ደግሞም እኮ እኛን ሸጦናል፤ የተሸጥንበትንም ዋጋ ራሱ በልቶታል። 16እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ከአባታችን ወስዶ ለአንተ የሰጠው ሀብት ሁሉ የእኛና የልጆቻችን ነው፤ ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) የነገረህን ሁሉ አድርግ።”
17ከዚያም ያዕቆብ ልጆቹንና ሚስቶቹን ግመሎች ላይ አስቀመጠ፤ 18በመስጴጦምያ ካፈራው ሀብት ሁሉ ጋር ከብቶቹን በሙሉ ወደ ፊት አስቀደመ፤ ወደ አባቱም ወደ ይስሐቅ አገር፣ ወደ ከነዓን ምድር ጕዞውን ቀጠለ።
19ላባ በጎቹን ሊሸልት ሄዶ ሳለ፣ ራሔል የአባቷን ቤት የጣዖታት ምስል ሰረቀች።
20ያዕቆብም ቢሆን፣ መኰብለሉን ለሶርያዊው ለላባ ሳይገልጥለት በመቅረቱ አታልሎታል። 21ያዕቆብ የእርሱ የሆነውን ሁሉ ይዞ፣ የኤፍራጥስን ወንዝ ተሻግሮ ወደ ኰረብታማው አገር፣ ወደ ገለዓድ አመራ።
ላባ ያዕቆብን ተከታተለው
22የያዕቆብ መኰብለል ለላባ በሦስተኛው ቀን ተነገረው። 23ላባ ዘመዶቹን ይዞ ተነሣ፤ ያዕቆብንም ሰባት ቀን ተከታትሎ ገለዓድ በተባለ ኰረብታማ አገር ደረሰበት። 24ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ለሶርያዊው ለላባ በሕልም ተገልጦ፣ “ያዕቆብን፣ ክፉም ሆነ ደግ፣ እንዳትናገረው ተጠንቀቅ” አለው።
25ያዕቆብ ገለዓድ በተባለው ኰረብታማ አገር ድንኳኑን ተክሎ ሳለ፣ ላባ ደረሰበት፤ ላባና ዘመዶቹም በዚያው ሰፈሩ። 26ከዚያም ላባ ያዕቆብን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ምን ማድረግህ ነው? አታልለኸኛል፤ ልጆቼን የጦር ምርኮኛ ይመስል አካልበህ ወሰድሃቸው። 27ለመሆኑ ለምን ተደብቀህ ሄድህ? ለምንስ አታለልኸኝ? ብትነግረኝ ኖሮ፣ በደስታና በዘፈን በከበሮና በበገና አልሸኝህም ነበር? 28የልጆቼን ልጆችና ልጆቼንም ስሜ ብሰናበት ምን ነበረበት? የሠራኸው የጅል ሥራ ነው። 29ልጐዳችሁ እችል ነበር፤ ዳሩ ግን ባለፈው ሌሊት የአባታችሁ አምላክ (ኤሎሂም) ‘ያዕቆብን፣ ክፉም ሆነ ደግ እንዳትናገረው ተጠንቀቅ’ አለኝ። 30አንተ ወደ አባትህ ቤት ለመመለስ ስለ ናፈቅህ ሄደሃል፤ ነገር ግን የቤቴን የጣዖት ምስል የሰረቅኸው ለምንድን ነው?”
31ያዕቆብም ለላባ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “ሴቶች ልጆችህን በኀይል ነጥቀህ ታስቀርብኛለህ ብዬ ስለ ፈራሁ ነው። 32ነገር ግን ከእኛ መካከል የአንተን የጣዖታት ምስል ደብቆ የተገኘ ሰው ካለ ይሙት። ያንተ የሆነ አንዳች ነገር ከኔ ዘንድ ቢገኝ፣ አንተው ራስህ ዘመዶቻችን ባሉበት ፈልግና ውሰድ።” ይህን ሲል፣ ራሔል የጣዖታቱን ምስል መስረቋን ያዕቆብ አያውቅም ነበር።
33ላባም ወደ ያዕቆብ፣ ድንኳንና ወደ ልያ ድንኳን እንዲሁም ወደ ሁለቱ ደንገጡሮቿ ድንኳኖች ገባ፤ ነገር ግን ምንም አላገኘም። ከልያ ድንኳን ከወጣ በኋላ ወደ ራሔል ድንኳን ገባ። 34ራሔል የጣዖታቱን ምስል ከግመሏ ኮርቻ ሥር ሸሽጋ፣ በላዩ ተቀምጣበት ነበር፤ ላባም ድንኳኑን አንድ በአንድ በርብሮ ምንም ሊያገኝ አልቻለም።
35ራሔልም አባቷን፣ “በፊትህ ተነሥቼ መቆም ስላልቻልሁ፣ ጌታዬ አትቈጣ፤ የወር አበባዬ መጥቶ ነው።” አለችው፤ ስለዚህ በረበረ፤ የጣዖታቱን ምስል ግን ማግኘት አልቻለም።
36በዚህ ጊዜ ያዕቆብ ተቈጣ፤ ላባንም እንዲህ ሲል ወቀሠው፤ “እስቲ ወንጀሌ ምንድን ነው? ይህን ያህል የምታሳድደኝ ኀጢአቴ ምን ቢሆን ነው? 37ዕቃዬን አንድ በአንድ በርብረሃል፤ ታዲያ፣ የአንተ ሆኖ ያገኘኸው ዕቃ የትኛው ነው? ካለ፣ እስቲ በአንተም በእኔም ዘመዶች ፊት አቅርብና እነርሱ ያፋርዱን።
38“ሃያ ዓመት አብሬህ ኖሬአለሁ፤ በዚህ ጊዜ ውስጥ ከመንጋህ አንድ ጠቦት እንኳ አልበላሁም። 39አውሬ የሰበረውንም ቢሆን እተካ ነበር እንጂ፣ ትራፊውን ለምልክትነት አምጥቼ አላውቅም፤ በቀንም ሆነ በሌሊት የተሰረቁትን ሁሉ ስታስከፍለኝ ኖረሃል። 40ቀን በሐሩር ሌሊት በቍር ተቃጠልሁ፤ እንቅልፍም በዐይኔ አልዞር አለ፤ 41ሃያ ዓመት በቤትህ የኖርሁት በዚህ ሁኔታ ነበር፤ ዐሥራ አራት ዓመት ለሁለቱ ልጆችህ ብዬ አገለገልሁ፤ ስድስት ዓመት ስለ መንጋዎችህ ስል አገለገልሁ፤ ይህም ሆኖ ደመወዜን ዐሥር ጊዜ ለዋውጠህብኛል። 42የአባቴ አምላክ (ኤሎሂም)፣ የአብርሃም አምላክ (ኤሎሂም)፣ የይስሐቅም ፍርሀት ከእኔ ጋር ባይሆን ኖሮ ባዶ እጄን ሰድደኸኝ ነበር፤ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ግን መከራዬን አይቶ፣ ልፋቴን ተመልክቶ ትናንት ሌሊት ገሠጸህ።”
43ላባም ለያዕቆብ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “ሴቶቹም፣ ልጆቹም የእኔው ልጆች ናቸው፣ መንጎቹም ቢሆኑ የራሴ ናቸው። ታዲያ፣ በእነዚህ ሴቶች ልጆቼና በወለዷቸው ልጆቻቸው ላይ ዛሬ ምን ማድረግ እችላለሁ? 44በል አሁን ቃል ኪዳን እንጋባ፤ ኪዳኑም በአንተና በእኔ መካከል ምስክር ይሁን።”
45ያዕቆብም ድንጋይ ወስዶ ሐውልት አድርጎ አቆመው፤ 46ከዚያም ዘመዶቹን፣ “ድንጋይ ሰብስቡ” አላቸው። እነርሱም ድንጋይ እያመጡ ከመሩ፤ በክምሩም አጠገብ ምግብ በሉ። 47ላባም ክምር ድንጋዩን ይጋርሠሀዱታ31፥47 ይጋርሠሀዱታ የሚለው ቃል በአረማይክ የኪዳን ክምር ድንጋይ ማለት ነው። ብሎ ጠራው፤ ያዕቆብ ደግሞ ገለዓድ31፥47 ገለዓድ የሚለው ቃል በዕብራይስጥ የኪዳን ክምር ድንጋይ ማለት ነው። አለው።
48ላባም “ይህ ክምር ድንጋይ በእኔና በአንተ መካከል ዛሬ ምስክር ነው” አለው። ገለዓድ ተብሎ የተጠራውም በዚሁ ምክንያት ነው፤ 49ደግሞም ምጽጳ31፥49 ምጽጳ የሚለው ቃል መጠበቂያ ማማ ማለት ነው። ተባለ፤ ምክንያቱም ላባ እንዲህ ብሏልና፤ “እኛ በተለያየን ጊዜ፣ እግዚአብሔር በእኔና በአንተ መካከል ታዛቢ ሆኖ ይቁም። 50ልጆቼን ብትበድላቸው ወይም ሌሎች ሚስቶች በላያቸው ላይ ብታገባ፣ ማንም ከእኛ ጋር ባይኖርም እንኳ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) በአንተና በእኔ መካከል ምስክር መሆኑን አትርሳ።”
51ደግሞም ላባ ያዕቆብን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ክምር ድንጋዩ እነሆ፤ በአንተና በእኔ መካከል ያቆምሁትም ሐውልት እነሆ፤ 52ይህን ክምር ድንጋይ ዐልፌ አንተን ለማጥቃት ላልመጣ፣ አንተም ይህን ክምር ድንጋይና ይህን ሐውልት ዐልፈህ እኔን ለማጥቃት ላትመጣ፣ ይህ ክምር ድንጋይ ምስክር ነው፤ ይህም ሐውልት ምስክር ነው። 53የአብርሃም አምላክ፣ የናኮር አምላክ፣ የአባታቸውም አምላክ (ኤሎሂም) በመካከላችን ይፍረድብን”።
ስለዚህ ያዕቆብ በአባቱ በይስሐቅ ፍርሀት ማለ። 54ያዕቆብ በኰረብታማው አገር ላይ መሥዋዕት አቀረበ፤ ዘመዶቹንም ምግብ እንዲበሉ ጋበዛቸው፤ እነርሱም ከበሉ በኋላ እዚያው ዐደሩ።
55በማግስቱም ማለዳ ላባ የልጅ ልጆቹን እንዲሁም ሴቶች ልጆቹን ስሞ መረቃቸው፤ ከዚያም ወደ አገሩ ተመለሰ።
1And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory. 2And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.31.2 as before: Heb. as yesterday and the day before 3And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. 4And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, 5And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. 6And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. 7And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. 8If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. 9Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.31.10 rams: or, he goats 11And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. 14And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. 16For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
17¶ Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; 18And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. 19And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.31.19 images: Heb. teraphim 20And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.31.20 unawares…: Heb. the heart of Laban 21So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. 22And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. 23And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. 24And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.31.24 either…: Heb. from good to bad
25¶ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. 26And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? 27Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?31.27 steal…: Heb. hast stolen me 28And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. 29It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 30And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? 31And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me. 32With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. 33And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.31.34 searched: Heb. felt 35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.
36¶ And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? 37Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.31.37 searched: Heb. felt 38This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. 39That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. 40Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes. 41Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. 42Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
43¶ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born? 44Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. 45And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. 46And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap. 47And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.31.47 Jegar-sahadutha: that is, The heap of witness, Chaldee31.47 Galeed: that is, The heap of witness, Heb. 48And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; 49And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.31.49 Mizpah: that is, A beacon, or, watchtower 50If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. 51And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee; 52This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. 53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. 54Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.31.54 offered…: or, killed beasts 55And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
