Γένεσις 28
1 προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ Ισαακ τὸν Ιακωβ εὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ λέγων οὐ λήμψῃ γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων Χανααν
Then Isaac summoned Jacob, and gave him a blessing. He told him, “Do not marry a woman of the Canaan people-group.
2 ἀναστὰς ἀπόδραθι εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν εἰς τὸν οἶκον Βαθουηλ τοῦ πατρὸς τῆς μητρός σου καὶ λαβὲ σεαυτῷ ἐκεῖθεν γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων Λαβαν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τῆς μητρός σου
Instead, go right away to Paddan-Aram [in northwest Mesopotamia], to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Ask one of the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban to marry you.
3 ὁ δὲ θεός μου εὐλογήσαι σε καὶ αὐξήσαι σε καὶ πληθύναι σε καὶ ἔσῃ εἰς συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν
I will pray that God Almighty will bless you, and enable you to [get married and] have many descendants, in order that they will become many people-groups.
4 καὶ δῴη σοι τὴν εὐλογίαν Αβρααμ τοῦ πατρός μου σοὶ καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου μετὰ σέ κληρονομῆσαι τὴν γῆν τῆς παροικήσεώς σου ἣν ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Αβρααμ
I also will pray that he will bless you and your descendants by enabling you to possess/seize the land in which you are now living as a foreigner, the land that God promised to give to [my father] Abraham and his descendants.”
5 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ισαακ τὸν Ιακωβ καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν πρὸς Λαβαν τὸν υἱὸν Βαθουηλ τοῦ Σύρου ἀδελφὸν δὲ Ρεβεκκας τῆς μητρὸς Ιακωβ καὶ Ησαυ
So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-Aram, to live with Rebekah’s brother Laban, the son of Bethuel, who belonged to the Aram people-group.
6 εἶδεν δὲ Ησαυ ὅτι εὐλόγησεν Ισαακ τὸν Ιακωβ καὶ ἀπῴχετο εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν Συρίας λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ ἐκεῖθεν γυναῖκα ἐν τῷ εὐλογεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ λέγων οὐ λήμψῃ γυναῖκα ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων Χανααν
Esau found out that his father Isaac had blessed Jacob and then sent him to Paddan-Aram. He also found out that when he blessed Isaac, he told him, “Do not marry a woman of the Canaan people-group,”
7 καὶ ἤκουσεν Ιακωβ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν Συρίας
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan-Aram.
8 καὶ εἶδεν Ησαυ ὅτι πονηραί εἰσιν αἱ θυγατέρες Χανααν ἐναντίον Ισαακ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ
Esau also realized that his father Isaac did not approve of women from the Canaan people-group.
9 καὶ ἐπορεύθη Ησαυ πρὸς Ισμαηλ καὶ ἔλαβεν τὴν Μαελεθ θυγατέρα Ισμαηλ τοῦ υἱοῦ Αβρααμ ἀδελφὴν Ναβαιωθ πρὸς ταῖς γυναιξὶν αὐτοῦ γυναῖκα
Because of that, Esau went to see his uncle Ishmael, and married Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. Mahalath was the sister of Nabaioth and the granddaughter of Abraham.
10 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ιακωβ ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Χαρραν
Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and started walking along the road to Haran.
11 καὶ ἀπήντησεν τόπῳ καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐκεῖ ἔδυ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων τοῦ τόπου καὶ ἔθηκεν πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ
When he arrived at a certain place, he stopped there, because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones there and put it under his head to use as a pillow. Then he lay down and slept there.
12 καὶ ἐνυπνιάσθη καὶ ἰδοὺ κλίμαξ ἐστηριγμένη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἧς ἡ κεφαλὴ ἀφικνεῖτο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνέβαινον καὶ κατέβαινον ἐπ’ αὐτῆς
While he was sleeping, he had a dream, in which he [was surprised to] see a stairway. The bottom of the stairway was on the earth and the top was in the sky. Jacob also saw that God’s angels were going up and down the stairway.
13 ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐπεστήρικτο ἐπ’ αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς Αβρααμ τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ισαακ μὴ φοβοῦ ἡ γῆ ἐφ’ ἧς σὺ καθεύδεις ἐπ’ αὐτῆς σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου
And he [was surprised to] see Yahweh standing at the top of the stairway, saying “I am Yahweh God, whom your grandfather Abraham worshiped, and whom Isaac worships. I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 καὶ ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς καὶ πλατυνθήσεται ἐπὶ θάλασσαν καὶ ἐπὶ λίβα καὶ ἐπὶ βορρᾶν καὶ ἐπ’ ἀνατολάς καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου
Your descendants will be as numerous as the particles of dirt that are on the earth, and their territory will be very large. It will extend in all directions, to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south. And people of all people-groups on earth will receive blessings because of [what happens to] you and to your descendants.
15 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μετὰ σοῦ διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ πάσῃ οὗ ἐὰν πορευθῇς καὶ ἀποστρέψω σε εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην ὅτι οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω ἕως τοῦ ποιῆσαί με πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησά σοι
I will help you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you; I will continue to do for you all that I have promised to do.”
16 καὶ ἐξηγέρθη Ιακωβ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ὅτι ἔστιν κύριος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ᾔδειν
[During the night], when Jacob woke up from sleeping, he thought, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and until now I was not aware of it!”
17 καὶ ἐφοβήθη καὶ εἶπεν ὡς φοβερὸς ὁ τόπος οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν τοῦτο ἀλλ’ ἢ οἶκος θεοῦ καὶ αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
He was afraid, and he said, “This place is very awesome! This is surely the place where God lives, and this is the entrance to heaven!”
18 καὶ ἀνέστη Ιακωβ τὸ πρωὶ καὶ ἔλαβεν τὸν λίθον ὃν ὑπέθηκεν ἐκεῖ πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν στήλην καὶ ἐπέχεεν ἔλαιον ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον αὐτῆς
In the morning Jacob got up and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up on its end to show that the place was a holy place. He poured some olive oil on top of the stone [to dedicate it to God].
19 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ιακωβ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Οἶκος θεοῦ καὶ Ουλαμλους ἦν ὄνομα τῇ πόλει τὸ πρότερον
He named that place Bethel, [which means ‘house of God’.] Previously its name was Luz.
20 καὶ ηὔξατο Ιακωβ εὐχὴν λέγων ἐὰν ᾖ κύριος ὁ θεὸς μετ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ διαφυλάξῃ με ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ταύτῃ ᾗ ἐγὼ πορεύομαι καὶ δῷ μοι ἄρτον φαγεῖν καὶ ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι
Jacob solemnly promised God, saying, “God, if you will help me and protect me while I am taking this journey, and if you give me enough food to eat and clothes to wear,
21 καὶ ἀποστρέψῃ με μετὰ σωτηρίας εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ ἔσται μοι κύριος εἰς θεόν
in order that I can later return safely to my father’s house, then you, Yahweh, will be the God that I will worship.
22 καὶ ὁ λίθος οὗτος ὃν ἔστησα στήλην ἔσται μοι οἶκος θεοῦ καὶ πάντων ὧν ἐάν μοι δῷς δεκάτην ἀποδεκατώσω αὐτά σοι
This stone that I have set up will mark the place where people can worship you. And I will give back to you a tenth of everything that you give to me.”
