1So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl. 2Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you#Gn 1:28 so that you become an assembly of peoples.#Gn 48:4 4May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham#Gn 12:1–3 so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”#Gn 12:7; 15:18 5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.” 7And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. 8Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,#Gn 24:3; 26:34–35; 27:46 9so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob at Bethel

10Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed:#Gn 41:1; Nm 12:6; Jb 33:15–16 A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.#Jn 1:51 13The Lord was standing there beside him,#28:13 Or there above it saying, “I am the Lord,#Gn 15:7; Ex 6:8 the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. 14Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth,#Gn 13:16 and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.#Gn 12:3 15Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land,#Gn 48:21; Dt 30:3; 1Kg 8:34; Zph 3:20 for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”#Ex 3:4–6; Jos 5:13–15; Ps 139:7–12 17He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

18Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19and named the place Bethel,#28:19 = House of God though previously the city was named Luz.#Gn 35:6; 48:3; Jdg 1:23,26 20Then Jacob made a vow:#Gn 31:13 “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21and if I return safely to my father’s family,#Gn 33:18; Jdg 11:31; 2Sm 15:7–9 then the Lord will be my God.#Dt 26:17 22This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.”#Gn 14:20; Lv 27:30; Dt 14:22

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Genesis 28

Jacob Searches for a Wife

1Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and 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 Almighty bless you and give you many children, and may you become a group of many peoples. 4May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob to Northwest Mesopotamia, 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 to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and 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. 11When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone 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. 13Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and 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, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and 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 and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not know it.” 17He was afraid and said, “This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven.”

18Jacob rose early in the morning and 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.

20Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “I want God to be with me and to protect me on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so 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