Now, will you notice verse 26.
My, how clever he is here.
He's a real diplomat, by the way.
And 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?
My, that ought to make Jacob feel pretty
bad that he had run away like that.
Wherefore 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, and with tabret, and with harp?
Why, Uncle Laban says, I would have given
you a wonderful send-off party.
I would really have had a great celebration,
and we would have given you a fond
farewell.
That's what he's saying now.
I don't think he would have done it.
And listen to him.
My, he peels now to sentiment.
Verse 28, And hast not suffered me to
kiss my sons and my daughters?
The sons would be those twelve grandsons there,
and they're going to be very prominent as
far as the history of this world is
concerned.
Hast not suffered me to kiss my sons
and my daughters?
Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
It's in the power of my hand to
do you hurt.
But the God of your father spake unto
me yesterday night, saying, Take thou heed that
thou speak not to Jacob, either good or
bad.
And Laban lets him know that he didn't
mean good by him, but God had prevented
him from doing bad.
Now will you notice?
Verse 30, And now, though thou wouldst needs
be gone, because thou sore longest after thy
father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my
gods?
That's a funny kind of a God to
have, isn't it, that you can steal it?
And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because
I was afraid, for I said, Peradventure thou
wouldst take by force thy daughters from me.
Now, he's not answering that he had taken
the gods.
He didn't know that Rachel had taken them,
actually.
What he's answering is this.
Why did you run away without letting me
know and giving you a party?
He says, I was afraid that if I
wanted to go, that you wouldn't let me
take your daughters, my wives, and my family,
and that which belonged to me.
You wouldn't permit it.