Genesis 28
28
1So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women. 2Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. 3May God Almighty#28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai. bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations! 4May God pass on to you and your descendants#28:4 Hebrew seed; also in 28:13, 14. the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”
5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.
6Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. 8It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. 9So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
20Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Genesis 28
28
Jacob Is Sent Away
1So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, #28:1 Lit and said tosaying to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May #28:3 Heb El ShaddaiGod Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples. 4May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your #28:4 Lit seeddescendants with you, so that you may possess the land where you live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased #28:8 Lit in the eyes of hishis father Isaac; 9and Esau went to Ishmael, and #28:9 Lit took for his wifemarried, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob’s Dream
10Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11And he #28:11 Lit lighted onhappened upon a #28:11 Lit the placeparticular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. 12And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13Then behold, the Lord was standing #28:13 Or beside himabove it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your #28:13 Lit seeddescendants. 14Your #28:14 Lit seeddescendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will #28:14 Lit break throughspread out to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your #28:14 Lit seeddescendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have #28:15 Lit spoken topromised you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top. 19Then he named that place #28:19 I.e., the house of GodBethel; but #28:19 Lit at the firstpreviously the name of the city had been Luz. 20Jacob also made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I #28:20 Lit gotake, and give me #28:20 Lit breadfood to eat and garments to wear, 21and I return to my father’s house in #28:21 Lit peacesafety, then the Lord will be my God. 22And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, will be God’s house, and of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”
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