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.”

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Bereshis 28

1And Yitzchak called for Ya'akov, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take an isha of the Banot Kena'an.

2Arise, go to Paddanah-Aram, to the bais Betuel avi immecha; and take thee an isha from there of the banot Lavan achi immecha.

3And El Shaddai bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a kahal amim;

4And give thee the birkat Avraham, to thee, and to thy zera with thee; that thou mayest inherit the eretz wherein thou art a ger, which Elohim gave unto Avraham.

5And Yitzchak sent away Ya'akov; and he went to Paddanah-Aram unto Lavan ben Betuel HaArami, achi Rivkah, em Ya'akov and Esav.

6When Esav saw that Yitzchak had blessed Ya'akov, and sent him away to Paddanah-Aram, to take an isha for him from there; and that when he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take an isha of the Banot Kena'an;

7And that Ya'akov obeyed his av and his em, and went to Paddanah-Aram;

8And Esav seeing that the Banot Kena'an pleased not Yitzchak his av;

9Then went Esav unto Yishmael, and took unto the nashim which he had Machalat bat Yishmael ben Avraham, the achot of Nevayot, to be his wife.

[VAYETZE]

10And Ya'akov went out from Be'er-Sheva, and went toward Charan.

11And he reached a certain place, and tarried there, because the shemesh was set; and he took of the avanim of that place, and put them for his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he had a chalom, and hinei a sullam (ladder, stairway) set up on the ground, and the top of it reached to Shomayim: and hinei the malachim of Elohim ascending and descending on it.

13And, hinei, Hashem stood above it, and said, I am Hashem Elohei Avraham thy av, and Elohei Yitzchak; ha'aretz whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy zera;

14And thy zera shall be as the dust of ha'aretz, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy zera shall kol hamishpochot haadamah be blessed.

15And, hinei, I am with thee, and will be shomer over thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee back into haadamah hazot; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have promised thee.

16And Ya'akov awoke out of his sleep, and he said, Surely Hashem is in this place! And I had no da'as of it.

17And he was afraid, and said, How nora (awesome) is this place! This is none other than the Beis Elohim, and this is the Sha'ar HaShomayim.

18And Ya'akov rose up early in the boker, and took haeven (the stone) that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a matzevah (pillar), and poured shemen upon the top of it.

19And he called the shem of that place Beit-El; but the shem of that ir was called Luz at the first.

20And Ya'akov vowed a neder (vow), saying, If Elohim will be with me, and will be shomer over me in this derech (way, journey) that I go, and will give me lechem to eat, and beged (clothes) to put on,

21So that I return to bais avi in shalom; then shall Hashem be for me Elohim (my G-d).

22And this even (stone), which I have set for a matzevah (pillar), shall be Beis Elohim: and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the aser (tenth) unto Thee.

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