Genesis 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 with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. 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.

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Genesis 28

CHAPTER 28

1And so Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded to him, and said, Do not thou take a wife of the kin of Canaan;

2but go thou, and walk forth into Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bethuel, [the] father of thy mother, and take to thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban, thine uncle.

3Soothly Almighty God bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee, that thou be into companies of peoples;

4and God give to thee the blessing of Abraham, and to thy seed after thee, that thou wield the land of thy pilgrimage, which he promised to thy grand-sire.

5And when Isaac had let go Jacob, he went forth, and came into Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel of Syria, the brother of Rebecca, his mother.

6Forsooth Esau saw that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, that he should wed a wife of thence, and that after the blessing he commanded to Jacob, and said, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7and that Jacob obeyed to his father and mother, and went into Syria;

8also Esau proved thereby that his father beheld not gladly the daughters of Canaan.

9And Esau went to Ishmael, and wedded a wife, without these which he had before, Mahalath#28:9 Mahalath is also called Bashemath, but she is a different person than Esau’s 2nd wife, who was also called Bashemath(!)., the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth.

10Therefore Jacob went out of Beersheba, and went to Haran.

11And when he had come to some place, and would rest therein after the going down of the sun, he took of the stones that lay there, and he put under his head, and slept in the same place.

12And he saw in [his] sleep a ladder standing on the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; and he saw God’s angels ascending or going up and going down thereby,

13and the Lord nighed to the ladder, saying to him, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and God of Isaac; I shall give to thee and to thy seed the land in which thou sleepest.

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of [the] earth, thou shalt be alarged to the east, and west, and to the north, and south; and all the lineages of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed.

15And I shall be thy keeper, whither ever thou shalt go; and I shall lead thee again into this land, and I shall not leave thee, no but I shall fulfill all [the] things which I have said.

16And when Jacob had waked of [the] sleep, he said, Verily the Lord is in this place, and I knew not.

17And he said dreading, How fearedful, or worshipful, is this place! Here is none other thing, no but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

18Therefore Jacob rose early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and raised it up into a title, or sign, and poured out oil above.

19And he called the name of that city Bethel, which was called Luz before.

20Also Jacob avowed a vow, and said, If God is with me, and keepeth me in the way in which I go, and giveth to me loaves to eat, and clothes to be clothed with,

21and I turn again in prosperity to the house of my father, the Lord shall be into God to me.

22And this stone, which I raised into a title, shall be called the house of God; and I shall offer tithes to thee of all things which thou shalt give to me.

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