Genesis 28
28
1Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then he charged him and said to him, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. # Ge 24:3; 27:46 2Arise, go to Paddan Aram # Hos 12:12 to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. # Ge 25:20 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of people. # Ge 35:11; 48:3 4May He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land where you are a stranger, # Ps 39:12 which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan Aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take for himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father. # Ge 24:3; 26:34–35; 28:1 9So Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, # Ge 36:3 in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10Then Jacob went out from Beer-sheba and went toward Harran. # Ge 11:31; Ac 7:2 11He came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of that place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, # Nu 12:6 and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. # Jn 1:51 13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, to you will I give it and to your descendants. # Ge 13:15; 26:24 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, # Ge 13:14 and in you and in your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed. # Ge 12:3 15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. # Ge 26:24; 31:3 For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”
16Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” # Ex 3:5; Jos 5:15 17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18So Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. # Ge 31:13; 35:14 19He called the name of that place Bethel, but previously the name of the city was called Luz. # Ge 48:3
20Jacob vowed a vow, # Ge 31:13; 2Sa 15:8 saying, “If God will be with me and will protect me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21so that I return to my father’s house in peace, # Jdg 11:31 then the Lord will be my God. # Dt 26:17 22Then this stone, which I have set for a pillar, will be the house of God, # Ge 35:7 and from all that You give me I will surely give one-tenth to You.” # Ge 14:20
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Genesis 28: MEV
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Genesis 28
28
1-2So Isaac called in Jacob and blessed him. Then he ordered him, “Don’t take a Canaanite wife. Leave at once. Go to Paddan Aram to the family of your mother’s father, Bethuel. Get a wife for yourself from the daughters of your uncle Laban.
3-4“And may The Strong God bless you and give you many, many children, a congregation of peoples; and pass on the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants so that you will get this land in which you live, this land God gave Abraham.”
5So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6-9Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to get a wife there, and while blessing him commanded, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram. When Esau realized how deeply his father Isaac disliked the Canaanite women, he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. This was in addition to the wives he already had.
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10-12Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
13-15Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”
16-17Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”
18-19Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.
20-22Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.