Genesis 28
28
1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “Don’t get married to a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Find a wife for yourself there. Take her from among the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban. 3May the Mighty God bless you. May he give you children. May he make your family larger until you become a community of nations. 4May he give you and your children after you the blessing he gave to Abraham. Then you can take over the land where you now live as an outsider. It’s the land God gave to Abraham.” 5Isaac sent Jacob on his way. Jacob went to Paddan Aram. He went to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was Rebekah’s brother. And Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Esau found out that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram. Isaac wanted him to get a wife from there. Esau heard that when Isaac blessed Jacob, he commanded him, “Don’t get married to a woman from Canaan.” 7Esau also learned that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Then Esau realized how much his father Isaac disliked Canaanite women. 9So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael. Esau added her to the wives he already had.
Jacob Has a Dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beersheba and started out for Harran. 11He reached a certain place and stopped for the night. The sun had already set. He took one of the stones there and placed it under his head. Then he lay down to sleep. 12In a dream he saw a stairway standing on the earth. Its top reached to heaven. The angels of God were going up and coming down on it. 13The Lord stood beside the stairway. He said, “I am the Lord. I am the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your children after you the land you are lying on. 14They will be like the dust of the earth that can’t be counted. They will spread out to the west and to the east. They will spread out to the north and to the south. All nations on earth will be blessed because of you and your children after you. 15I am with you. I will watch over you everywhere you go. And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16Jacob woke up from his sleep. Then he thought, “The Lord is surely in this place. And I didn’t even know it.” 17Jacob was afraid. He said, “How holy this place is! This must be the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head. He set it up as a sacred stone. And he poured olive oil on top of it. 19He named that place Bethel. But the city used to be called Luz.
20Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “May God be with me. May he watch over me on this journey I’m taking. May he give me food to eat and clothes to wear. 21May he do as he has promised so that I can return safely to my father’s home. Then you, Lord, will be my God. 22This stone I’ve set up as a sacred stone will be God’s house. And I’ll give you a tenth of everything you give me.”
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Genesis 28
28
Jacob’s Departure
1Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you # Gn 1:28 so that you become an assembly of peoples. # Gn 48:4 4May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham # Gn 12:1-3 so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” # Gn 12:7; 15:18 5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. 8Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, # Gn 24:3; 26:34-35; 27:46 9so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob at Bethel
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed: # Gn 41:1; Nm 12:6; Jb 33:15-16 A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. # Jn 1:51 13Yahweh was standing there beside him,# Or there above it saying, “I am Yahweh, # Gn 15:7; Ex 6:8 the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, # Gn 13:16 and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. # Gn 12:3 15Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, # Gn 48:21; Dt 30:3; 1Kg 8:34; Zph 3:20 for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” # Ex 3:4-6; Jos 5:13-15; Ps 139:7-12 17He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19and named the place Bethel, # = House of God though previously the city was named Luz. # Gn 35:6; 48:3; Jdg 1:23,26 20Then Jacob made a vow: # Gn 31:13 “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21and if I return safely to my father’s house, # Gn 33:18; Jdg 11:31; 2Sm 15:7-9 then the Lord will be my God. # Dt 26:17 22This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” # Gn 14:20; Lv 27:30; Dt 14:22
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