Genesis 28

1-2So Isaac called in Jacob and blessed him. Then he ordered him, “Don’t take a Canaanite wife. Leave at once. Go to Paddan Aram to the family of your mother’s father, Bethuel. Get a wife for yourself from the daughters of your uncle Laban.

3-4“And may The Strong God bless you and give you many, many children, a congregation of peoples; and pass on the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants so that you will get this land in which you live, this land God gave Abraham.”

5So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6-9Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to get a wife there, and while blessing him commanded, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram. When Esau realized how deeply his father Isaac disliked the Canaanite women, he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. This was in addition to the wives he already had.

* * *

10-12Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.

13-15Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”

16-17Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”

18-19Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.

20-22Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.”

* * *

Learn More About The Message

Genesis 28

1¶ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother.

3And may God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou may be a congregation of peoples

4and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee; that thou may inherit the land in which thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6¶ And Esau saw how Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padanaram, to take a wife from there for himself, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,

7and that Jacob had hearkened unto his father and his mother and had gone to Padanaram;

8and Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father,

9Esau went unto Ishmael and took unto the wives which he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10¶ And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

11And he found a certain place and slept there all night because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And, behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I AM the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land upon which thou dost lie, to thee will I give it and to thy seed;

14and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt multiply to the west and to the east and to the Aquilon and to the Negev; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And, behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places where thou goest and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16¶ And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bethel, since the name of that city was called Luz at first.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on

21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God;

22and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth part unto thee.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International

Learn More About Jubilee Bible