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
1Then Isaac called Jacob and #Gen. 27:33blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: #Gen. 24:3“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2#Hos. 12:12Arise, go to #Gen. 25:20Padan Aram, to the house of #Gen. 22:23Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of #Gen. 24:29; 27:43; 29:5Laban your mother’s brother.
3“May #Gen. 17:16; 35:11; 48:3God Almighty bless you,
And make you #Gen. 26:4, 24fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples;
4And give you #Gen. 12:2, 3; 22:17; Gal. 3:8the blessing of Abraham,
To you and your descendants with you,
That you may inherit the land
#Gen. 17:8; 23:4; 36:7; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12In which you are a stranger,
Which God gave to Abraham.”
5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Marries Mahalath
6Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8Also Esau saw #Gen. 24:3; 26:34, 35; 27:46that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9So Esau went to Ishmael and #Gen. 26:34, 35took #Gen. 36:2, 3Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, #Gen. 25:13the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob’s Vow at Bethel
10Now Jacob #Gen. 26:23; 46:1; Hos. 12:12went out from Beersheba and went toward #Gen. 12:4, 5; 27:43; 29:4; 2 Kin. 19:12; Acts 7:2Haran. 11So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12Then he #Gen. 31:10; 41:1; Num. 12:6dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there #John 1:51; Heb. 1:4, 14the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13#Gen. 35:1; 48:3; Amos 7:7And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: #Gen. 26:24“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; #Gen. 13:15, 17; 26:3; 35:12the land on which you lie I will give to you and your #Gen. 13:16; 22:17descendants. 14Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad #Gen. 13:14, 15; Deut. 12:20to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and #Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:34; Gal. 3:8in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15Behold, #Gen. 26:3, 24; 31:3I am with you and will #Gen. 48:16; Num. 6:24; Ps. 121:5, 7, 8keep you wherever you go, and will #Gen. 35:6; 48:21; Deut. 30:3bring you back to this land; for #Lev. 26:44; Deut. 7:9; 31:6, 8; Josh. 1:5; 1 Kin. 8:57; Heb. 13:5I will not leave you #Num. 23:19until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in #Ex. 3:5; Josh. 5:15; Ps. 139:7–12this place, and I did not know it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, #Gen. 31:13, 45set it up as a pillar, #Lev. 8:10–12and poured oil on top of it. 19And he called the name of #Judg. 1:23, 26that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20#Gen. 31:13; Judg. 11:30; 2 Sam. 15:8Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If #Gen. 28:15God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me #1 Tim. 6:8bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21so that #Judg. 11:31; 2 Sam. 19:24, 30I come back to my father’s house in peace, #Deut. 26:17; 2 Sam. 15:8then the Lord shall be my God. 22And this stone which I have set as a pillar #Gen. 35:7, 14shall be God’s house, #Gen. 14:20; (Lev. 27:30); Deut. 14:22and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.