and sold us and eaten up the price? but God hath taken our father's riches, and delivered them to us and to our children; wherefore do all that God hath commanded thee." Then Jacob arose, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way. And he took all his substance and flocks, and whatsoever he had gained in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan. At this time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel took away her father's idols.

On the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob was fled. And he took his people with him, and pursued hotly after him seven days, and overtook him in the mount of Galaad. And he saw in a dream God saying to him, Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob. In the morning Laban came, and said to Jacob: "Why hast thou done thus, to carry away without my knowledge my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? Why wouldst thou run away privately and not acquaint me, that I might have brought thee on thy way with joy and with songs, with the timbrel and the harp? Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters; thou hast done foolishly. And now, indeed, it is in my power to requite thee evil; but the God of your father said to me yesterday, Take heed that thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob. Suppose that thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a longing for thy father's house, why hast thou stolen away my gods?" Jacob answered: "With whomsoever thou

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shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search; and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away." Now when he had said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols. So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and Lia, and both the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel's tent, she in haste hid the idols under the camel's furniture and sat upon them; and when he had searched all the tents and found nothing, she said: "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee." So his careful search was in vain. Jacob, being angry, said to Laban: "For what fault of mine, and for what offence on my part, hast thou so hotly pursued after me, and searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee. Have I therefore been with thee twenty years, and kept thy flocks? Of that which was torn by beasts I made good all the damage; and whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me. By day I was consumed with heat, and by night with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes; and in this manner I served thee for twenty years, and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked; but God beheld my affliction, and rebuked thee yesterday." Laban answered him: "The daughters are mine, and the children, and the flocks, and all that thou seest are in my

power. What can I do to my children and grandchildren? Come, let us enter into a league, that it may be for a testimony between me and thee." So Jacob and Laban made a league together; and Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac to observe it. And Jacob called the name of the place Galaad. In the night following, Laban kissed his sons and daughters, and blessed them, and returned to his place.

§ 18. Jacob's Meeting with Esau.

Jacob now feared the meeting between himself and his brother Esau, and he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, "Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob. I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him to this day. I have oxen and asses, sheep, and men-servants and maid-servants; and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight." And the messenger returned to Jacob, saying: "We came to thy brother Esau, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men."

Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and in his fear divided the people that were with him and the flocks into two companies, saying: "If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other that is left shall escape." And Jacob said: "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac; O Lord, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and

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I will do well for thee;-I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, and of Thy truth, which Thou hast fulfilled to Thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I return with two companies. Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him; lest, perhaps, he come and kill the mother with the children. Thou didst say that Thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."

Jacob arose the following morning, and divided all his cattle into droves; and commanded the servants who drove them, in case they fell in with Esau, to say that they were being sent forward as a present from Jacob to my lord Esau, and that Jacob was coming after them. For he said: "I will appease him with presents that go before, and after that I will see him; perhaps he will be gracious unto me." So the presents went on before, but he himself remained in the tents.

And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided his children into different companies, putting Rachel and Joseph last, and went forward, and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times, until his brother came near. Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him, and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept. And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said: "What mean these? do they belong to thee?" He answered: They are the children which God hath given to me,

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thy servant." Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed themselves; Lia also and her children came and bowed down; and last of all Rachel and

Joseph. And Esau said: "What are the droves that

I met?" He answered:

before my

"That I might find favour lord." But he said: "I have plenty, my