And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks 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 borne? And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee." And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, "Gather stones"; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they ate there by the heap. And Laban called it "Jegar-sahadutha": but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and thee this day." Therefore was the name of it called Galeed: and "Mizpah" (that is, watchtower), for he said, "The Lord watch between me and thee, When we are absent one from another." "If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee." And Laban said to Jacob, "Behold this heap, and behold the pillar, which I have set between me and thee. This heap be witness, and the 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. "The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain. And early in the morning {76} Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's host": and he called the name of that place Mahanaim (that is, Two Hosts). JACOB FEARS THE WRATH OF ESAU. _He Wrestles with the Angel. The Brothers Meet and are Reconciled_. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, "Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau; 'Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now: and I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and menservants and maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.'" And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; and he said, "If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape." {77}{78} [Illustration] THE VALLEY OF THE JABBOK From a photograph taken by Prof. H. G. Mitchell and used by his kind permission.