1Then Isaac called Jacob and #Gen. 27:33blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: #Gen. 24:3“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2#Hos. 12:12Arise, go to #Gen. 25:20Padan Aram, to the house of #Gen. 22:23Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of #Gen. 24:29; 27:43; 29:5Laban your mother’s brother.

3“May #Gen. 17:16; 35:11; 48:3God Almighty bless you,

And make you #Gen. 26:4, 24fruitful and multiply you,

That you may be an assembly of peoples;

4And give you #Gen. 12:2, 3; 22:17; Gal. 3:8the blessing of Abraham,

To you and your descendants with you,

That you may inherit the land

#Gen. 17:8; 23:4; 36:7; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12In which you are a stranger,

Which God gave to Abraham.”

5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

6Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8Also Esau saw #Gen. 24:3; 26:34, 35; 27:46that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9So Esau went to Ishmael and #Gen. 26:34, 35took #Gen. 36:2, 3Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, #Gen. 25:13the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

10Now Jacob #Gen. 26:23; 46:1; Hos. 12:12went out from Beersheba and went toward #Gen. 12:4, 5; 27:43; 29:4; 2 Kin. 19:12; Acts 7:2Haran. 11So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12Then he #Gen. 31:10; 41:1; Num. 12:6dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there #John 1:51; Heb. 1:4, 14the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13#Gen. 35:1; 48:3; Amos 7:7And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: #Gen. 26:24“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; #Gen. 13:15, 17; 26:3; 35:12the land on which you lie I will give to you and your #Gen. 13:16; 22:17descendants. 14Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad #Gen. 13:14, 15; Deut. 12:20to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and #Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:34; Gal. 3:8in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15Behold, #Gen. 26:3, 24; 31:3I am with you and will #Gen. 48:16; Num. 6:24; Ps. 121:5, 7, 8keep you wherever you go, and will #Gen. 35:6; 48:21; Deut. 30:3bring you back to this land; for #Lev. 26:44; Deut. 7:9; 31:6, 8; Josh. 1:5; 1 Kin. 8:57; Heb. 13:5I will not leave you #Num. 23:19until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in #Ex. 3:5; Josh. 5:15; Ps. 139:7–12this place, and I did not know it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

18Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, #Gen. 31:13, 45set it up as a pillar, #Lev. 8:10–12and poured oil on top of it. 19And he called the name of #Judg. 1:23, 26that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20#Gen. 31:13; Judg. 11:30; 2 Sam. 15:8Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If #Gen. 28:15God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me #1 Tim. 6:8bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21so that #Judg. 11:31; 2 Sam. 19:24, 30I come back to my father’s house in peace, #Deut. 26:17; 2 Sam. 15:8then the Lord shall be my God. 22And this stone which I have set as a pillar #Gen. 35:7, 14shall be God’s house, #Gen. 14:20; (Lev. 27:30); Deut. 14:22and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

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Genesis 28

Jacob Searches for a Wife

1Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, in Northwest Mesopotamia. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters. 3May God All-Powerful bless you and give you many children. May you become the father of many peoples. 4May the Lord give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham. Then you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger. This is the land God gave to Abraham.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob to Northwest Mesopotamia. Jacob went to Laban, the brother of Rebekah. Bethuel, the Aramean, was the father of Laban and Rebekah. And Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Northwest Mesopotamia. Jacob went to find a wife there. Esau also learned that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman. 7And Esau learned that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother. He had gone to Northwest Mesopotamia. 8So Esau saw that his father Isaac did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women. 9Now Esau already had wives. But he went to Ishmael son of Abraham. And he married Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter. Mahalath was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11He came to a place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone there and laid his head on it to go to sleep. 12Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven. And he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder. 13And then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder. The Lord said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your grandfather. And I am the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are now sleeping. 14Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go. And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16Then Jacob woke from his sleep. He said, “Surely the Lord is in this place. But I did not know it.” 17Jacob was afraid. He said, “This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven.”

18Jacob rose early in the morning. He took the stone he had slept on and set it up on its end. Then he poured olive oil on the top of it. 19At first, the name of that city was Luz. But Jacob named it Bethel.# This name means “house of God.”

20Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “I want God to be with me and protect me on this journey. I want God to give me food to eat and clothes to wear. 21Then I will be able to return in peace to my father’s house. If the Lord does these things, he will be my God. 22This stone which I have set up on its end will be the house of God. And I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me.”

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Genesis 28

Genesis 28