Genesis 28

1¶ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother.

3And may God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou may be a congregation of peoples

4and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee; that thou may inherit the land in which thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6¶ And Esau saw how Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padanaram, to take a wife from there for himself, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,

7and that Jacob had hearkened unto his father and his mother and had gone to Padanaram;

8and Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father,

9Esau went unto Ishmael and took unto the wives which he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10¶ And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

11And he found a certain place and slept there all night because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And, behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I AM the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land upon which thou dost lie, to thee will I give it and to thy seed;

14and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt multiply to the west and to the east and to the Aquilon and to the Negev; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And, behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places where thou goest and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16¶ And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bethel, since the name of that city was called Luz at first.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on

21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God;

22and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth part unto thee.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International

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Genesis 28

1So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and gave him these orders: “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. 2Get up and go to Paddan-aram, to the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and once there, marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3God Almighty#28.3 Heb El Shaddai or God of the Mountain will bless you, make you fertile, and give you many descendants so that you will become a large group of peoples. 4He will give you and your descendants Abraham’s blessing so that you will own the land in which you are now immigrants, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob off, and he traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.

6Esau understood that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to marry a woman from there. He recognized that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he had ordered him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had listened to his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8Esau realized that his father Isaac considered Canaanite women unacceptable. 9So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.

Jacob’s dream at Bethel

10Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. 11He reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. 12He dreamed and saw a raised staircase, its foundation on earth and its top touching the sky, and God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it. 13Suddenly the LORD was standing on it#28.13 Or beside it or beside him and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. 15I am with you now, I will protect you everywhere you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.”

16When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The LORD is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. 17He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven. 18After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19He named that sacred place Bethel,#28.19 Or God’s house though Luz was the city’s original name. 20Jacob made a solemn promise: “If God is with me and protects me on this trip I’m taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21and I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God. 22This stone that I’ve set up as a sacred pillar will be God’s house, and of everything you give me I will give a tenth back to you.”

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