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."
Genesis 28
28
1So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women. 2Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. 3May God Almighty#28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai. bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations! 4May God pass on to you and your descendants#28:4 Hebrew seed; also in 28:13, 14. the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”
5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.
6Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. 8It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. 9So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
20Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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