Genesis 28
28
Jacob Sent to Laban
1So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, commanded him and said to him, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
2Get up, go to Paddan-aram, 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.
3Now may El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you will become an assembly of peoples.
4And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.”
5Then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went toward Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to take for himself a wife from there, when he blessed him and commanded him saying, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
7Jacob listened to his father Isaac and to his mother and went toward Paddan-aram.
8Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were contemptible in his father Isaac’s eyes.
9So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, Nebaioth’s sister for his wife, besides his other wives.
Jacob’s Ladder From Heaven
10Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
11He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place.
12He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it!
13Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed.
14Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed.
15Behold, 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 forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”
16Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Undoubtedly, Adonai is in this place—and I was unaware.”
17So he was afraid and said, “How fearsome this place is! This is none other than the House of God—this must be the gate of heaven!”
18Early in the morning Jacob got up and took the stone, which he had placed by his head, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on top of it.
19He called the name of that place Beth-El (though originally the city’s name was Luz).
20Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this way that I am going, and provide me food to eat and clothes to wear,
21and I return in shalom to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God.
22So this stone which I set up as a memorial stone will become God’s House, and of everything You provide me I will definitely give a tenth of it to You.”
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Genesis 28
28
1So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and gave him these orders: “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. 2Get up and go to Paddan-aram, to the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and once there, marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3God Almighty#28.3 Heb El Shaddai or God of the Mountain will bless you, make you fertile, and give you many descendants so that you will become a large group of peoples. 4He will give you and your descendants Abraham’s blessing so that you will own the land in which you are now immigrants, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob off, and he traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.
6Esau understood that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to marry a woman from there. He recognized that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he had ordered him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had listened to his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8Esau realized that his father Isaac considered Canaanite women unacceptable. 9So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.
Jacob’s dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. 11He reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. 12He dreamed and saw a raised staircase, its foundation on earth and its top touching the sky, and God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it. 13Suddenly the LORD was standing on it#28.13 Or beside it or beside him 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 are lying. 14Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. 15I am with you now, I will protect you everywhere you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.”
16When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The LORD is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. 17He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven. 18After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19He named that sacred place Bethel,#28.19 Or God’s house though Luz was the city’s original name. 20Jacob made a solemn promise: “If God is with me and protects me on this trip I’m taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21and I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God. 22This stone that I’ve set up as a sacred pillar will be God’s house, and of everything you give me I will give a tenth back to you.”
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.