Genesis 28

Jacob’s Departure

1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded. 2“Go at once to Paddan-aram,#28:2 That is, northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6, and 7 to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty #28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. 4And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.

8And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, 9Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Ladder

10Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

12And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder. 13And there at the top #28:13 Or there beside him the Lord was standing and saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

The Stone of Bethel

18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, 19and he called that place Bethel,#28:19 Bethel means house of God. though previously the city had been named Luz.

20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, 21so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God. 22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”

The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.

Learn More About English: Berean Standard Bible

Genesis 28

CHAPTER 28

1And so Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded to him, and said, Do not thou take a wife of the kin of Canaan;

2but go thou, and walk forth into Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bethuel, [the] father of thy mother, and take to thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban, thine uncle.

3Soothly Almighty God bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee, that thou be into companies of peoples;

4and God give to thee the blessing of Abraham, and to thy seed after thee, that thou wield the land of thy pilgrimage, which he promised to thy grand-sire.

5And when Isaac had let go Jacob, he went forth, and came into Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel of Syria, the brother of Rebecca, his mother.

6Forsooth Esau saw that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, that he should wed a wife of thence, and that after the blessing he commanded to Jacob, and said, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7and that Jacob obeyed to his father and mother, and went into Syria;

8also Esau proved thereby that his father beheld not gladly the daughters of Canaan.

9And Esau went to Ishmael, and wedded a wife, without these which he had before, Mahalath#28:9 Mahalath is also called Bashemath, but she is a different person than Esau’s 2nd wife, who was also called Bashemath(!)., the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth.

10Therefore Jacob went out of Beersheba, and went to Haran.

11And when he had come to some place, and would rest therein after the going down of the sun, he took of the stones that lay there, and he put under his head, and slept in the same place.

12And he saw in [his] sleep a ladder standing on the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; and he saw God’s angels ascending or going up and going down thereby,

13and the Lord nighed to the ladder, saying to him, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and God of Isaac; I shall give to thee and to thy seed the land in which thou sleepest.

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of [the] earth, thou shalt be alarged to the east, and west, and to the north, and south; and all the lineages of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed.

15And I shall be thy keeper, whither ever thou shalt go; and I shall lead thee again into this land, and I shall not leave thee, no but I shall fulfill all [the] things which I have said.

16And when Jacob had waked of [the] sleep, he said, Verily the Lord is in this place, and I knew not.

17And he said dreading, How fearedful, or worshipful, is this place! Here is none other thing, no but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

18Therefore Jacob rose early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and raised it up into a title, or sign, and poured out oil above.

19And he called the name of that city Bethel, which was called Luz before.

20Also Jacob avowed a vow, and said, If God is with me, and keepeth me in the way in which I go, and giveth to me loaves to eat, and clothes to be clothed with,

21and I turn again in prosperity to the house of my father, the Lord shall be into God to me.

22And this stone, which I raised into a title, shall be called the house of God; and I shall offer tithes to thee of all things which thou shalt give to me.

Learn More About Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling