Genesis 28
28
1Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and said to him, “Don't marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban's daughters. 3May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations! 4#Gen 17.4–8May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!” 5Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Takes Another Wife
6Esau learnt that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learnt that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman. 7He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia. 8Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women. 9So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob's Dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beersheba and started towards Haran. 11At sunset he came to a holy place#28.11 a holy place; or a place. and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12#Jn 1.51He dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13#Gen 13.14–15And there was the LORD standing beside him.#28.13 beside him; or on it. “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14#Gen 12.3; 22.18They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.#28.14 through you… nations; or all the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed you and your descendants. 15Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”
16Jacob woke up and said, “The LORD is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!” 17He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”
18Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God. 19He named the place Bethel.#28.19 Bethel: This name in Hebrew means “house of God”. (The town there was once known as Luz.) 20Then Jacob made a vow to the LORD: “If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing, 21and if I return safely to my father's home, then you will be my God. 22This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshipped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me.”
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 28
28
1 And so Isaac called for Jacob, and he blessed him, and he instructed him, saying: "Do not be willing to accept a mate from the family of Canaan.
2 But go, and journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there accept for yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your maternal uncle.
3 And may God almighty bless you, and may he cause you to increase and also to multiply, so that you may be influential among the people.
4 And may he give the blessings of Abraham to you, and to your offspring after you, so that you may possess the land of your sojourning, which he promised to your grandfather."
5 And when Isaac had dismissed him, setting out, he went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother to Rebekah, his mother.
6 But Esau, seeing that his father had blessed Jacob and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to take a wife from there, and that, after the blessing, he had instructed him, saying: 'You shall not accept a wife from the daughters of Canaan,'
7 and that Jacob, obeying his parents, had gone into Syria,
8 having evidence also that his father did not look with favor upon the daughters of Canaan,
9 he went to Ishmael, and he took as a wife, beside those he had before, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.
10 Meanwhile Jacob, having departed from Beersheba, continued on to Haran.
11 And when he had arrived at a certain place, where he would rest after the setting of the sun, he took some of the stones that lay there, and placing them under his head, he slept in the same place.
12 And he saw in his sleep: a ladder standing upon the earth, with its top touching heaven, also, the Angels of God ascending and descending by it,
13 and the Lord, leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land, in which you sleep, I will give to you and to your offspring.
14 And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the North, and to the Meridian. And in you and in your offspring, all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed.
15 And I will be your guardian wherever you will journey, and I will bring you back into this land. Neither will I dismiss you, until I have accomplished all that I have said."
16 And when Jacob had awakened from sleep, he said, "Truly, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."
17 And being terrified, he said: "How terrible this place is! This is nothing other than the house of God and the gateway of heaven."
18 Therefore, Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone which he had placed under his head, and he set it up as monument, pouring oil over it.
19 And he called the name of the city, 'Bethel,' which before was called Luz.
20 And then he made a vow, saying: "If God will be with me, and will guard me along the way by which I walk, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
21 and if I will return prosperously to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God,
22 and this stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be called 'the House of God.' And from all the things that you will give to me, I will offer tithes to you."