Genesis 28

Isaac's Instructions to Jacob

1Isaac called in Jacob, then gave him a blessing, and said:

Don't marry any of those Canaanite women. 2Go at once to your mother's father Bethuel in northern Syria#28.2 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. and choose a wife from one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 3I pray that God All-Powerful will bless you with many descendants and let you become a great nation. 4#Gn 17.4-8. May he bless you with the land he promised Abraham, so that you will take over this land where we now live as foreigners.

5Isaac then sent Jacob to stay with Rebekah's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.

Esau Marries the Daughter of Ishmael

6Esau found out that his father Isaac had blessed Jacob and had warned him not to marry any of the Canaanite women. He also learned that Jacob had been sent to find a wife in northern Syria#28.6 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. 7and that he had obeyed his father and mother. 8Esau already had several wives, but he now realized how much his father hated the Canaanite women. 9So he married Ishmael's daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth#28.9 Nebaioth: Ishmael's oldest son (see 25.13). and the granddaughter of Abraham.

Jacob's Dream at Bethel

10 # Ws 10.10. Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran. 11At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. 12#Jn 1.51. In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down on it.

13 # Gn 13.14,15. The Lord was standing beside the ladder#28.13 the ladder: Or “Jacob” or “the stairway.” and said:

I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14#Gn 12.3; 22.18. Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people.#28.14 Your family … people: Or “All people will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your family.” 15Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won't leave you—I will do all I have promised.

16Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn't even know it.” 17Then Jacob became frightened and said, “What a frightening place! It must be the house of God and the gateway to heaven.”

18When Jacob got up early the next morning, he took the rock that he had used for a pillow and stood it up as a place of worship. Then he poured olive oil on the rock to dedicate it to God, 19and he named the place Bethel.#28.19 Bethel: In Hebrew “Bethel” means “House of God.” Before that it had been named Luz.

20Jacob solemnly promised God, “If you go with me and watch over me as I travel, and if you give me food and clothes 21and bring me safely home again, you will be my God. 22This rock will be your house, and I will give back to you a tenth of everything you give me.”

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Berĕshith (Genesis) 28

1And Yitsḥaq called Ya‛aqoḇ and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an.

2“Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethu’ĕl your mother’s father. And take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laḇan your mother’s brother.

3And Ěl Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and increase you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples,”

4and give you the blessing of Aḇraham, to you and your seed with you, so that you inherit the land of your sojournings, which Elohim gave to Aḇraham.”

5So Yitsḥaq sent Ya‛aqoḇ away, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laḇan son of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean, the brother of Riḇqah, the mother of Ya‛aqoḇ and Ěsaw.

6And Ěsaw saw that Yitsḥaq had blessed Ya‛aqoḇ and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an,”

7and that Ya‛aqoḇ had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

8So Ěsaw saw that the daughters of Kena‛an did not please his father Yitsḥaq,

9and Ěsaw went to Yishma‛ĕl and took Maḥalath the daughter of Yishma‛ĕl, Aḇraham’s son, the sister of Neḇayoth, to be his wife, besides the wives he had.

10And Ya‛aqoḇ went out from Be’ĕrsheḇa and went toward Ḥaran.

11And he came upon a place and stopped over for the night, for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it.

13And see, יהוה stood above it and said, “I am יהוה Elohim of Aḇraham your father and the Elohim of Yitsḥaq. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you and your seed.

14“And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall break forth to the west and to the east, to the north and the south. And all the clans of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your seed.

15“And see, I am with you and shall guard you wherever you go, and shall bring you back to this land. For I am not going to leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

16And Ya‛aqoḇ awoke from his sleep and said, “Truly, יהוה is in this place, and I did not know it.”

17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of the heavens!”

18And Ya‛aqoḇ rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a standing column, and poured oil on top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bĕyth Ěl, however, the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20And Ya‛aqoḇ made a vow, saying, “Seeing Elohim is with me, and has kept me in this way that I am going, and has given me bread to eat and a garment to put on –

21when I have returned to my father’s house in peace, and יהוה has been my Elohim,

22then this stone which I have set as a standing column shall be Elohim’s house, and of all that You give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to You.”

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