Genesis 28
28
Jacob’s Departure
1So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl. 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 girl.” 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 the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.#Jn 1:51 13The Lord was standing there beside him,#28:13 Or there above it saying, “I am the Lord,#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 on which you are lying. 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,#28:19 = 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 during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21and if I return safely to my father’s family,#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
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 28
28
1 SO ISAAC called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan.
2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take from there as a wife one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you until you become a group of peoples.
4 May He give the blessing [He gave to] Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land He gave to Abraham, in which you are a sojourner.
5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Padan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother.
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Padan-aram to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan-aram.
8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father.
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took to be his wife, [in addition] to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.
10 And Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.
11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there overnight, because the sun was set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there to sleep.
12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
13 And behold, the Lord stood over and beside him and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father [forefather] and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 And your offspring shall be as [countless as] the dust or sand of the ground, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and by you and your Offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed and bless themselves. [Gen. 12:2-3; 13:16; 22:18; 26:4; Acts 3:25-26; Gal. 3:8, 16.]
15 And behold, I am with you and will keep (watch over you with care, take notice of) you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done all of which I have told you.
16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.
17 He was afraid and said, How to be feared and reverenced is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven!
18 And Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone he had put under his head, and he set it up for a pillar (a monument to the vision in his dream), and he poured oil on its top [in dedication].
19 And he named that place Bethel [the house of God]; but the name of that city was Luz at first.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear,
21 So that I may come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God;
22 And this stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument) shall be God's house [a sacred place to me], and of all [the increase of possessions] that You give me I will give the tenth to You.
1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation