Genesis 28
1 Then Isaac summoned Jacob, and gave him a blessing. He told him, “Do not marry a woman of the Canaan people-group.
And Isaac having called for Jacob, blessed him, and charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites.
2 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.
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.
3 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.
And may my God bless you, and increase you, and multiply you, and you shall become gatherings of nations.
4 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.”
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.
5 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.
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.
6 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,”
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;
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan-Aram.
and [that] Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and went to Mesopotamia of Syria.
8 Esau also realized that his father Isaac did not approve of women from the Canaan people-group.
And Esau also having seen that the daughters of Chanaan were evil before his father Isaac,
9 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.
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.
10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and started walking along the road to Haran.
And Jacob went forth from the well of the oath, and departed into Charrhan.
11 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.
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,
12 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.
and dreamt, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended on it.
13 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.
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.
14 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.
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.
15 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.”
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.
16 [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!”
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
17 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!”
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.
18 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].
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.
19 He named that place Bethel, [which means ‘house of God’.] Previously its name was Luz.
And he called the name of that place, the House of God; and the name of the city before was Ulam-luz.
20 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,
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,
21 in order that I can later return safely to my father’s house, then you, Yahweh, will be the God that I will worship.
and bring me back in safety to the house of my father, then shall the Lord be for a God to me.
22 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.”
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.
