Genesis 28
1 Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Don't marry a Canaanite woman,” he ordered him.
2 But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.
“Leave right away and go to Paddan-aram, to the home of Bethuel, your mother's father. Find yourself a wife there—a daughter of Laban, your mother's brother.
3 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of peoples.
God Almighty bless you and may your descendants be so numerous that you become the ancestor of many nations.
4 And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave to Abraham, may be your heritage.
May he grant you and your descendants the same blessing he gave to Abraham, so that you may take over the land where you now live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
So Isaac sent Jacob on his way. He traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there, blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
Esau found out that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife there, and that when he blessed him he ordered him, “Don't marry a Canaanite woman.”
7 And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;
He also discovered that Jacob had done what his father and mother told him and had left for Paddan-aram.
8 It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women of Canaan,
This made Esau realize how much his father disliked Canaanite women.
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
So he went to Ishmael's family and married an additional wife—Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.
10 So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.
In the meantime Jacob had set off from Beersheba on his way to Haran.
11 And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went to sleep in that place.
He arrived after sunset at a particular place and stopped there for the night. He picked up a stone, put it under his head, lay down and went to sleep.
12 And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.
He dreamed he saw a stairway that started on earth, and the top reached all the way into heaven. He saw God's angels going up and down on it.
13 And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.
Then he saw the Lord standing over him, who said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. I'm giving you and your descendants the land you're lying on.
14 Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and will spread out west and east, and north and south. Everyone on earth will be blessed by your descendants.
15 And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.
Listen! I am with you and will take care of you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this country. I won't leave you because I'm going to do what I've promised you.”
16 And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.
When Jacob woke up he said to himself, “The Lord is right here, in this place, and I didn't realize it!”
17 And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.
He became frightened and said, “This is a scary place! It must be the house of God and the entrance to heaven.”
18 And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.
When Jacob got up in the morning he took the stone he'd put under his head and set it upright as a stone pillar and poured some olive oil on it.
19 And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.
He named the place “Bethel,” (previously it was called Luz).
20 Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,
Jacob also made a solemn promise, saying, “God, if you will be with me, and take care of me on my journey, and give me food to eat and clothes to wear
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God,
so I can return safely to my father's home, then you Lord will be my God.
22 And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.
This stone pillar that I've set up will be the house of God, and I will give you one tenth of all you give me.”
