Genesis 28
28
1And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:
2But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel, thy mother's father: and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy uncle.
3And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.
4And give the blessings of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.
5And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian, brother to Rebecca his mother.
6And Esau, seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:
7And that Jacob obeying his parents was gone into Syria:
8Experiencing also that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:
9He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.
10But Jacob, being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.
11And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.
12And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; the angels also of God ascending and descending by it;
13And the Lord, leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.
14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: Thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: AND IN THEE AND THY SEED ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.
15And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.
16And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
17And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! This is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.
18And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.
19And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.
20And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall be my God:
22And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign 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.