Genesis 28

Jacob Is Sent Away

1So Isaac called Jacob and 1blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “2You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of 3Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3May 45God Almighty 6bless you and 7make you fruitful and 8multiply you, that you may become a 9company of peoples. 4May He also give you the 10blessing of Abraham, to you and to your 11descendants with you, that you may 12possess the land of your 13sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then 14Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, 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 to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “15You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8So Esau saw that 16the daughters of Canaan displeased 17his father Isaac; 9and Esau went to Ishmael, and 18married, 19besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

10Then Jacob departed from 20Beersheba and went toward 21Haran. 11He 22came to 23a 24certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it 25under his head, and lay down in that place. 1226He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, 27the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And behold, 28the Lord stood 29above it and said, “I am the Lord, 30the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it 31to you and to 32your 33descendants. 14Your 34descendants will also be like 35the dust of the earth, and you will 36spread out 37to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and 38in you and in your 39descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, 40I am with you and 41will keep you wherever you go, and 42will bring you back to this land; for 43I will not leave you until I have done what I have 44promised you.” 16Then Jacob 45awoke from his sleep and said, “46Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17He was afraid and said, “47How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

18So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took 48the stone that he had put 49under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19He called the name of that place 5051Bethel; however, 52previously the name of the city had been 53Luz. 20Then Jacob 54made a vow, saying, “55If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I 56take, and will give me 5758food to eat and garments to wear, 21and 59I return to my father’s house in 60safety, 61then the Lord will be my God. 22This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, 62will be God’s house, and 63of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”