Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 31:1 | Now he heard the words of Labans sonnes, saying, Iaakob hath taken away all that was our fathers, and of our fathers goods hath he gotten all this honour. |
| 31:2 | Also Iaakob beheld the countenance of Laban, that it was not towards him as in times past: |
| 31:3 | And the Lord had said vnto Iaakob, Turne againe into the lande of thy fathers, and to thy kinred, and I wilbe with thee. |
| 31:4 | Therefore Iaakob sent and called Rahel and Leah to the fielde vnto his flocke. |
| 31:5 | Then sayde hee vnto them, I see your fathers countenance, that it is not towardes me as it was wont, and the God of my father hath bene with me. |
| 31:6 | And yee knowe that I haue serued your father with all my might. |
| 31:7 | But your father hath deceiued me, and changed my wages tenne times: but God suffred him not to hurt me. |
| 31:8 | If he thus sayd, The spotted shall be thy wages, then all the sheepe bare spotted: and if he sayd thus, the party coloured shalbe thy rewarde, then bare all the sheepe particoloured. |
| 31:9 | Thus hath God taken away your fathers substance, and giuen it me. |
| 31:10 | For in ramming time I lifted vp mine eyes and saw in a dreame, and beholde, ye hee goates leaped vpon the shee goates, that were partie coloured with litle and great spots spotted. |
| 31:11 | And the Angel of God sayde to mee in a dreame, Iaakob. And I answered, Lo, I am here. |
| 31:12 | And he sayde, Lift vp nowe thine eyes, and see all the hee goates leaping vpon ye shee goates that are partie coloured, spotted with litle and great spots: for I haue seene all that Laban doeth vnto thee. |
| 31:13 | I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anoyntedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vowe vnto me. Nowe arise, get thee out of this countrey and returne vnto ye land where thou wast borne. |
| 31:14 | Then answered Rahel and Leah, and sayde vnto him, Haue wee any more porcion and inheritance in our fathers house? |
| 31:15 | Doeth not he count vs as strangers? for he hath solde vs, and hath eaten vp and consumed our money. |
| 31:16 | Therefore all the riches, which God hath taken from our father, is ours and our childrens: nowe then whatsoeuer God hath saide vnto thee, doe it. |
| 31:17 | Then Iaakob rose vp, and set his sonnes and his wiues vpon camels. |
| 31:18 | And he caried away all his flockes, and al his substance which he had gotten, to wit, his riches, which he had gotten in Padan Aram, to goe to Izhak his father vnto the land of Canaan. |
| 31:19 | Whe Laban was gone to shere his sheepe, Then Rahel stole her fathers idoles. |
| 31:20 | Thus Iaakob stole away ye heart of Laban the Aramite: for he told him not that he fled. |
| 31:21 | So fled he with all that he had, and he rose vp, and passed the riuer, and set his face towarde mount Gilead. |
| 31:22 | And the third day after was it told Laban, that Iaakob fled. |
| 31:23 | Then he tooke his brethren with him, and followed after him seuen dayes iourney, and ouertooke him at mount Gilead. |
| 31:24 | And God came to Laban the Aramite in a dreame by night, and sayde vnto him, Take heede that thou speake not to Iaakob ought saue good. |
| 31:25 | Then Laban ouertooke Iaakob, and Iaakob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban also with his brethren pitched vpon mount Gilead. |
| 31:26 | Then Laban sayde to Iaakob, What hast thou done? thou hast euen stolen away mine heart and caried away my daughters as though they had bene taken captiues with the sworde. |
| 31:27 | Wherfore diddest thou flie so secretly and steale away from me, and diddest not tel me, that I might haue sent thee foorth with mirth and with songs, with timbrel and with harpe? |
| 31:28 | But thou hast not suffered me to kisse my sonnes and my daughters: nowe thou hast done foolishly in doing so. |
| 31:29 | I am able to do you euill: but the God of your father spake vnto me yesternight, saying, Take heed that thou speake not to Iaakob ought saue good. |
| 31:30 | Nowe though thou wentest thy way, because thou greatly longedst after thy fathers house, yet wherefore hast thou stollen my gods? |
| 31:31 | Then Iaakob answered, and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, and thought that thou wouldest haue taken thy daughters from me. |
| 31:32 | But with whome thou findest thy gods, let him not liue. Search thou before our brethre what I haue of thine, and take it to thee, (but Iaakob wist not that Rahel had stolen them) |
| 31:33 | Then came Laban into Iaakobs tent, and into Leahs tent, and into the two maides tentes, but founde them not. So hee went out of Leahs tent, and entred into Rahels tent. |
| 31:34 | (Nowe Rahel had taken the idoles, and put them in the camels litter and sate downe vpon them) and Laban searched al the tent, but found them not. |
| 31:35 | Then said she to her father, My Lord, be not angrie that I cannot rise vp before thee: for the custome of women is vpon me: so he searched, but found not the idoles. |
| 31:36 | The Iaakob was wroth, and chode with Laban: Iaakob also answered and sayd to Laban, What haue I trespassed? what haue I offended, that thou hast pursued after me? |
| 31:37 | Seeing thou hast searched all my stuffe, what hast thou foud of all thine houshold stuffe? put it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may iudge betweene vs both. |
| 31:38 | This twenty yere I haue bin with thee: thine ewes and thy goates haue not cast their yong, and the rammes of thy flocke haue I not eaten. |
| 31:39 | Whatsoeuer was torne of beasts, I brought it not vnto thee, but made it good my selfe: of mine hand diddest thou require it, were it stollen by day or stollen by night. |
| 31:40 | I was in the day consumed with heate, and with frost in the night, and my sleepe departed from mine eyes. |
| 31:41 | Thus haue I bene twentie yeere in thine house, and serued thee fourteene yeeres for thy two daughters, and sixe yeeres for thy sheepe, and thou hast changed my wages tenne times. |
| 31:42 | Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the feare of Izhak had bene with me, surely thou haddest sent me away nowe emptie: but God behelde my tribulation, and the labour of mine hads, and rebuked thee yester night. |
| 31:43 | Then Laban answered, and saide vnto Iaakob, These daughters are my daughters, and these sonnes are my sonnes, and these sheepe are my sheepe, and all that thou seest, is mine, and what can I doe this day vnto these my daughters, or to their sonnes which they haue borne? |
| 31:44 | Nowe therefore come and let vs make a couenant, I and thou, which may be a witnes betweene me and thee. |
| 31:45 | Then tooke Iaakob a stone, and set it vp as a pillar: |
| 31:46 | And Iaakob sayde vnto his brethren, Gather stones: who brought stones, and made an heape, and they did eate there vpon the heape. |
| 31:47 | And Laban called it Iegar-sahadutha, and Iaakob called it Galeed. |
| 31:48 | For Laban sayd, This heape is witnesse betweene me and thee this day: therefore he called the name of it Galeed. |
| 31:49 | Also he called it Mizpah, because he said, The Lord looke betweene me and thee, when we shalbe departed one from another, |
| 31:50 | If thou shalt vexe my daughters, or shalt take wiues beside my daughters: there is no man with vs, beholde, God is witnesse betweene me and thee. |
| 31:51 | Moreouer Laban sayd to Iaakob, Beholde this heape, and behold the pillar, which I haue set betweene me and thee, |
| 31:52 | This heape shall be witnesse, and the pillar shall be witnesse, that I will not come ouer this heape to thee, and that thou shalt not passe ouer this heape and this pillar vnto me for euill. |
| 31:53 | The God of Abraham, and the God of Nabor, and the God of their father be iudge betweene vs: But Iaakob sware by the feare of his father Izhak. |
| 31:54 | Then Iaakob did offer a sacrifice vpon the mount, and called his brethren to eate bread. and they did eate bread, and taried all night in the mount. |
| 31:55 | And earely in the morning Laban rose vp and kissed his sonnes and his daughters, and blessed them, and Laban departing, went vnto his place againe. |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.