1 Mose 28
1 Isak frɛɛ Yakob, hyiraa no hyɛɛ no se, “Nware saa Kanaanfo mmea yi bi da.
Then Isaac summoned Jacob, and gave him a blessing. He told him, “Do not marry a woman of the Canaan people-group.
2 Ka wo ho kɔ Betuel a ɔyɛ wo na Rebeka agya no nkyɛn wɔ Paddan-Aram, na kɔware wo wɔfa Laban mmabea no mu baako.
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 Otumfo Nyankopɔn no nhyira wo. Ɔmma wʼase nnɔ bebree, na wʼasefo no abɛyɛ ɔman kɛse a mmusuakuw bebree befi mu aba.
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 Onyankopɔn mfa nhyira a ɔde hyiraa Abraham no nhyira wo ne wʼasefo. Ɔmma asase a nnɛ wote so sɛ ɔhɔho yi, a ɛyɛ asase a Onyankopɔn de maa Abraham no nyɛ wo dea.”
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 Sɛnea Isak gyaa ne ba Yakob kwan ni: Yakob kɔɔ Laban a ɔyɛ Aramni Betuel babarima nkyɛn wɔ Paddan-Aram. Na saa Laban yi yɛ Esau ne Yakob mama Rebeka ne nuabarima.
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 Esau tee sɛ Isak ahyira Yakob, na wagya no kwan ma ɔkɔ Paddan-Aram sɛ ɔnkɔware wɔ hɔ. Ohyiraa no no, ɔhyɛɛ no se, “Nware saa Kanaanfo mmea yi bi da.”
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 Yakob tiee nʼagya ne ne na afotu no sii mu kɔɔ Paddan-Aram.
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan-Aram.
8 Esau huu sɛ nʼagya Isak mpɛ Kanaanfo mmea asɛm.
Esau also realized that his father Isaac did not approve of women from the Canaan people-group.
9 Enti osii mu kɔɔ Abraham babarima Ismael nkyɛn, kɔwaree ne babea Mahalat. Na Mahalat yɛ Nebaiot nuabea, na ɔyɛ Ismael a ɔno nso yɛ Abraham babarima no babea. Esau waree Mahalat kaa ne yerenom ho.
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 Yakob fii Beer-Seba de nʼani kyerɛɛ Haran.
Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and started walking along the road to Haran.
11 Oduu baabi na onwini redwo no, ɔpɛɛ baabi soɛe, efisɛ na ade resa. Ɔfaa ɔbo bi wɔ faako a wadu hɔ de yɛɛ sumii.
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 Ɔdae no, ɔsoo dae bi. Dae no mu no, ohuu sɛ antweri bi si fam a nʼatifi ka wim, na Onyankopɔn abɔfo redi so aforosian.
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 Ohuu sɛ Onyankopɔn gyina antweri no atifi. Onyankopɔn ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Mene Awurade, Abraham Nyankopɔn, ne wʼagya Isak Nyankopɔn. Mede asase a woda so yi bɛma wo ne wʼasefo.
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 Wʼasefo bɛyɛ sɛ asase so mfutuma, na mobɛtrɛtrɛw akɔ apuei ne atɔe, atifi ne anafo nyinaa. Wo ne wʼasefo mu na wofi behyira wiase mmusuakuw nyinaa.
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 Eyinom nyinaa akyi no, mɛka wo ho, na baabiara a wobɛkɔ no, medi wʼakyi, na mɛsan de wo aba saa asase yi so. Merennyaw wo da, kosi sɛ bɔ a mahyɛ wo yi nyinaa bɛba mu.”
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 Yakob nyanee no, ɔkaa wɔ ne tirim se, “Ampa ara, sɛɛ na Awurade wɔ saa beae ha yi, a na minnim!”
[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 Yakob suroe, na ɔkɔɔ so kaa wɔ ne tirim se, “Ɛha yɛ hu papa. Ɛha nyɛ baabiara sɛ Onyankopɔn fi. Ɔsoro pon ano ne ha.”
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 Enti Yakob sɔree anɔpatutuutu maa ɔbo a ɔde yɛɛ sumii no so sii hɔ, hwiee ngo guu so.
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 Ɔtoo beae no din Bet-El a ase kyerɛ Onyame fi. Kan no na anka wɔfrɛ saa kurow no Lus.
He named that place Bethel, [which means ‘house of God’.] Previously its name was Luz.
20 Na Yakob kaa ntam se, “Sɛ Onyankopɔn bɛka me ho, ahwɛ me so wɔ saa akwantu yi mu, ama me aduan adi, ama me ntama afura,
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 sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a mɛsan aba mʼagya fi asomdwoe mu a, ɛno de, Awurade bɛyɛ me Nyankopɔn.
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 Saa ɔbo a mede asi hɔ sɛ nkaedum yi bɛyɛ Onyankopɔn fi. Biribiara a wo, Onyankopɔn, de bɛma me no, mede mu nkyɛmu du mu baako bɛma wo.”
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.”
