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
1And Yitz’chak [Laughter] called Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), and Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) him, and charged him, and said unto him, Youi shall not take a wife of the daughters of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues).
2Arise, go to Paddan-aram (a place of height; field; plain), to the house of B’tu’el (meaning disputed) youri mother’s father; and take youi a wife from there of the daughters of Lavan (to be white; white guy) youri mother’s brother.
3And God-El [The Powerful Living Word] Almighty-Shaddai bless youi, and make youi fruitful, and multiply youi, that youi may be a multitude of people;
4And give youi the blessing of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], to youi, and to youri seed with youi; that youi may inherit the land wherein youi are a stranger, which God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] gave unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will].
5And Yitz’chak [Laughter] sent away Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of): and he went to Paddan-aram (a place of height; field; plain) unto Lavan (to be white; white guy), son of B’tu’el the Arami [Arami [exalted]] (level plain), the brother of Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured), Ya’akov’s and ‘Esav’s mother.
6When ‘Esav (hairy) saw that Yitz’chak [Laughter] had Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), and sent him away to Paddan-aram (a place of height; field; plain), to take him a wife from there; and that as he Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) him he gave him a charge, saying, Youi shall not take a wife of the daughters of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues);
7And that Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram (a place of height; field; plain);
8And ‘Esav (hairy) seeing that the daughters of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues) pleased not Yitz’chak [Laughter] his father;
9Then went ‘Esav (hairy) unto Yishma’el (He Will Hear God; God hears [EL]), and took unto the wives which he had Machalat (sad song; sickness) the daughter of Yishma’el (He Will Hear God; God hears [EL]) Avraham’s [exalted father/Fly They Will] son, the sister of N’vayot (heights; vision), to be his wife.
10And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) went out from Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath), and went toward Haran [mountaineer] (Mountaineer or Mountainous).
11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried 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-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] ascending and descending on it.
13And, behold, the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) stood above it, and said, I [am] the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] youri father, and the God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of Yitz’chak [Laughter]: the land upon which youi lie, to youi will I give it, and to youri seed;
14And youri seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and youi shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in youi and in youyi seed shall all the families of the earth be Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous).
15And, behold, I [am] with youi, and will keep youi in all [places] to where youi go, and will bring youi again into this land; for I will not leave youi, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to youi of.
16And Ya’akov awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) 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-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered], and this [is] the gate of heaven.
18And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) 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 Beit-El (The House of the Powerful One): but the name of that city was called Luz [Almond Tree] (almond tree) at the first.
20And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) vowed a vow, saying, If God-EL [The Powerful Living Word] 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-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) be my God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered]:
22And this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be God-Elōhīm’s [The Living Word - The Many Powered] house: and of all that youi shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto youi.
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