< Genesis 28 >

1 And Isaac having called for Jacob, blessed him, and charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites.
Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
2 Rise and depart quickly into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bathuel the father of your mother, and take to yourself thence a wife of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.
3 And may my God bless you, and increase you, and multiply you, and you shall become gatherings of nations.
And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of peoples.
4 And may he give you the blessing of my father Abraam, even to you and to your seed after you, to inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraam.
And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave to Abraham, may be your heritage.
5 So Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went into Mesopotamia to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca the mother of Jacob and Esau.
So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 And Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Mesopotamia of Syria as he blessed him, to take to himself a wife thence, and [that] he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites;
So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there, blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
7 and [that] Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and went to Mesopotamia of Syria.
And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;
8 And Esau also having seen that the daughters of Chanaan were evil before his father Isaac,
It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women of Canaan,
9 Esau went to Ismael, and took Maeleth the daughter of Ismael, the son of Abraam, the sister of Nabeoth, a wife in addition to his [other] wives.
So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
10 And Jacob went forth from the well of the oath, and departed into Charrhan.
So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.
11 And came to a certain place and slept there, for the sun had gone down; and he took [one] of the stones of the place, and put it at his head, and lay down to sleep in that place,
And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went to sleep in that place.
12 and dreamed, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended on it.
And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.
13 And the Lord stood upon it, and said, I am the God of your father Abraam, and the God of Isaac; fear not, the land on which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.
And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.
14 And your seed shall be as the sand of the earth; and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and the south, and the north, and to the east; and in you and in your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
15 And behold I am with you to preserve you continually in all the way wherein you shall go; and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not desert you, until I have done all that I have said to you.
And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.
16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How fearful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.
18 And Jacob rose up in the morning, and took the stone he [had] laid there by his head, and he set it up [as] a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.
And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.
19 And he called the name of that place, the House of God; and the name of the city before was Ulam-luz.
And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Lord God will be with me, and guard me throughout on this journey, on which I am going, and give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,
21 and bring me back in safety to the house of my father, then shall the Lord be for a God to me.
So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God,
22 And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be to me a house of God; and of all whatever you shall give me, I will tithe a tenth for you.
And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.

< Genesis 28 >