Genesis 28
1 Vocavit itaque Isaac Iacob, et benedixit eum, praecepitque ei dicens: Noli accipere coniugem de genere Chanaan:
Then Isaac summoned Jacob, and gave him a blessing. He told him, “Do not marry a woman of the Canaan people-group.
2 sed vade, et proficiscere in Mesopotamiam Syriae, ad domum Bathuel patris matris tuae, et accipe tibi inde uxorem de filiabus Laban avunculi tui.
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 Deus autem omnipotens benedicat tibi, et crescere te faciat, atque multiplicet: ut sis in turbas populorum.
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 Et det tibi benedictiones Abrahae, et semini tuo post te: ut possideas terram peregrinationis tuae, quam pollicitus est avo tuo.
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 Cumque dimisisset eum Isaac, profectus pervenit in Mesopotamiam Syriae ad Laban filium Bathuel Syri, fratrem Rebeccae matris suae.
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 Videns autem Esau quod benedixisset pater suus Iacob, et misisset eum in Mesopotamiam Syriae, ut inde uxorem duceret; et quod post benedictionem praecepisset ei, dicens: Non accipies uxorem de filiabus Chanaan:
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 quodque obediens Iacob parentibus suis isset in Syriam:
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan-Aram.
8 probans quoque quod non libenter aspiceret filias Chanaan pater suus:
Esau also realized that his father Isaac did not approve of women from the Canaan people-group.
9 ivit ad Ismaelem, et duxit uxorem absque iis, quas prius habebat, Maheleth filiam Ismael filii Abraham, sororem Nabaioth.
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 Igitur egressus Iacob de Bersabee, pergebat Haran.
Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and started walking along the road to Haran.
11 Cumque venisset ad quemdam locum, et vellet in eo requiescere post solis occubitum, tulit de lapidibus qui iacebant, et supponens capiti suo, dormivit in eodem loco.
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 Viditque in somnis scalam stantem super terram, et cacumen illius tangens caelum: Angelos quoque Dei ascendentes et descendentes per eam,
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 et Dominum innixum scalae dicentem sibi: Ego sum Dominus Deus Abraham patris tui, et Deus Isaac: Terram, in qua dormis, tibi dabo et semini tuo.
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 Eritque semen tuum quasi pulvis terrae: dilataberis ad Orientem, et Occidentem, et Septentrionem, et Meridiem: et BENEDICENTUR IN TE et in semine tuo cunctae tribus terrae.
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 Et ero custos tuus quocumque perrexeris, et reducam te in terram hanc: nec dimittam nisi complevero universa quae dixi.
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 Cumque evigilasset Iacob de somno, ait: Vere Dominus est in loco isto, et ego nesciebam.
[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 Pavensque: Quam terribilis est, inquit, locus iste! non est hic aliud nisi domus Dei, et porta caeli.
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 Surgens ergo Iacob mane, tulit lapidem quem supposuerat capiti suo, et erexit in titulum, fundens oleum desuper.
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 Appellavitque nomen urbis Bethel, quae prius Luza vocabatur.
He named that place Bethel, [which means ‘house of God’.] Previously its name was Luz.
20 Vovit etiam votum, dicens: Si fuerit Dominus mecum, et custodierit me in via, per quam ego ambulo, et dederit mihi panem ad vescendum, et vestimentum ad induendum,
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 reversusque fuero prospere ad domum patris mei: erit mihi Dominus in Deum,
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 et lapis iste, quem erexi in titulum, vocabitur Domus Dei: cunctorumque quae dederis mihi, decimas offeram tibi.
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.”
