Don't marry any of those Canaanite women. 2Go at once to your mother's father Bethuel in northern Syria#28.2 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. and choose a wife from one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 3I pray that God All-Powerful will bless you with many descendants and let you become a great nation. 4#Gn 17.4-8. May he bless you with the land he promised Abraham, so that you will take over this land where we now live as foreigners.

5Isaac then sent Jacob to stay with Rebekah's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.

Esau Marries the Daughter of Ishmael

6Esau found out that his father Isaac had blessed Jacob and had warned him not to marry any of the Canaanite women. He also learned that Jacob had been sent to find a wife in northern Syria#28.6 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. 7and that he had obeyed his father and mother. 8Esau already had several wives, but he now realized how much his father hated the Canaanite women. 9So he married Ishmael's daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth#28.9 Nebaioth: Ishmael's oldest son (see 25.13). and the granddaughter of Abraham.

Jacob's Dream at Bethel

10 # Ws 10.10. Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran. 11At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. 12#Jn 1.51. In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down on it.

13 # Gn 13.14,15. The Lord was standing beside the ladder#28.13 the ladder: Or “Jacob” or “the stairway.” and said:

I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14#Gn 12.3; 22.18. Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people.#28.14 Your family … people: Or “All people will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your family.” 15Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won't leave you—I will do all I have promised.

16Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn't even know it.” 17Then Jacob became frightened and said, “What a frightening place! It must be the house of God and the gateway to heaven.”

18When Jacob got up early the next morning, he took the rock that he had used for a pillow and stood it up as a place of worship. Then he poured olive oil on the rock to dedicate it to God, 19and he named the place Bethel.#28.19 Bethel: In Hebrew “Bethel” means “House of God.” Before that it had been named Luz.

20Jacob solemnly promised God, “If you go with me and watch over me as I travel, and if you give me food and clothes 21and bring me safely home again, you will be my God. 22This rock will be your house, and I will give back to you a tenth of everything you give me.”

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

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Genesis 28

Jacob Flees to Haran

1Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, “You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3Now, may El-Shaddai#Often translated “God Almighty” bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples. 4And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and#Or “when” he blessed him and instructed him, saying, “You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram. 8Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, 9then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Dream

10Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran. 11And he arrived at a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and slept at that place. 12And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it. 13And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,#Or “above it” and he said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. 14Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. 15Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely Yahweh is indeed#Literally “there is” in this place and I did not know!” 17Then he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is nothing else than the house of God,#Literally “there is not this but the house of God” and this is the gate of heaven!” 18And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city was formerly Luz. 20And Jacob made a vow#Or “vowed a vow” saying, “If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, 21and if I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God. 22And this stone that I have set up as a pillar shall be the house of God, and of all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you.”

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Genesis 28

Genesis 28