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
Jacob’s Departure
1Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you # Gn 1:28 so that you become an assembly of peoples. # Gn 48:4 4May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham # Gn 12:1-3 so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” # Gn 12:7; 15:18 5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. 8Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, # Gn 24:3; 26:34-35; 27:46 9so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob at Bethel
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed: # Gn 41:1; Nm 12:6; Jb 33:15-16 A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. # Jn 1:51 13Yahweh was standing there beside him,# Or there above it saying, “I am Yahweh, # Gn 15:7; Ex 6:8 the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, # Gn 13:16 and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. # Gn 12:3 15Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, # Gn 48:21; Dt 30:3; 1Kg 8:34; Zph 3:20 for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” # Ex 3:4-6; Jos 5:13-15; Ps 139:7-12 17He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19and named the place Bethel, # = House of God though previously the city was named Luz. # Gn 35:6; 48:3; Jdg 1:23,26 20Then Jacob made a vow: # Gn 31:13 “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21and if I return safely to my father’s house, # Gn 33:18; Jdg 11:31; 2Sm 15:7-9 then the Lord will be my God. # Dt 26:17 22This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” # Gn 14:20; Lv 27:30; Dt 14:22
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