22 Three days later, Lavan was informed that Yacob had fled with his family, 23 so he took some of his relatives with him and chased after Yacob and his family for seven days until they overtook them in the hill-country of Gilead. 24 But that night God appeared to Lavan the Syrian in a dream and told him, “Watch yourself that you don’t say anything to Yacob, either good or bad.” 25 When Lavan had caught up to Yacob, Yacob had pitched their tents in the hills, so Lavan with his relatives also pitched theirs on the Gilead hills.

26 Then Lavan said to Yacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters like prisoners of war. 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you all off with music and singing and a cheery party. 28 You didn’t let me kiss my grandchildren goodbye and my daughters, instead you made a foolish decision. 29 I have the right and the ability to punish you, but last night your father’s God told me, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Yacob.’ 30 So now, you probably left because you miss your father’s place badly, but why did you steal my gods?”

31 “We left like that,” Yacob answered Lavan, “because I was afraid, because I said that perhaps you would use force to take your married daughters from me. 32 As for your idols, whoever you find your gods with will be put to death. Look through everything we have and take back anything that belongs to you, with our relatives as witnesses.” (Now Yacob didn’t know that Rahel had stolen them.)

33 So Lavan inspected Yacob’s and Le’ah’s tents, and the tent of the two slave women, but he didn’t find anything. Then he came out of Le’ah’s tent and went into Rahel’s tent. 34 Now Rahel had taken the idols and put them in the camel’s saddle which she was now sitting on, so although Lavan searched throughout her entire tent, he didn’t find them, 35 and she said to her father, “Don’t let my master be upset that I’m not able to stand up in your presence, because I have the regular female concern at the moment.” So he searched, but he didn’t find the idols.

36 So Yacob got very angry and he argued with Lavan, demanding from him, “What’s my crime? What’s my sin, that you’ve hotly chased after me? 37 Since you’ve searched through all our things, what things from your house have you found? Put it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, and let them judge between the two of us!

38 “I’ve worked for you for twenty years. Your ewes and your female goats didn’t miscarry, and I haven’t eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I didn’t bring dead sheep or goats to you that had been attacked by wild animals—I bore the loss of those myself. You required that I cover anything stolen during the day or during the night. 40 I was always out there—during the day the heat tormented me, and at night the frost so bad that I couldn’t sleep. 41 That’s how it was for me for twenty years in your house. I worked for you for fourteen years for your two daughters, then six more years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times to your advantage. 42 If my father’s God—the God of Abraham and the one Yitshak respected—had not been with me, surely you would have sent me away empty-handed now. God has seen my suffering and my hard work, and last night, he rebuked you.”