Genesis 28

Jacob Is Sent Away

1So Isaac called Jacob and 1blessed him and commanded him, 2saying to him, “3You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of 4Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May 56God Almighty 7bless you and 8make you fruitful and 9multiply you, so that you may become a 10multitude of peoples. 4May He also give you the 11blessing of Abraham, to you and to your 12descendants with you, so that you may 13possess the land where you 14live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then 15Isaac 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 commanded him, saying, “16You 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 17the daughters of Canaan displeased 18his father Isaac; 9and Esau went to Ishmael, and 19married, 20besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

10Then Jacob departed from 21Beersheba and went toward 22Haran. 11And he 23happened upon a 2425particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. 12And 26he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, 27the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13Then behold, 28the Lord was standing 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 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, “46The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” 17And he 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 got up early in the morning, and took 48the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top. 19Then he named that place 4950Bethel; but 51previously the name of the city had been 52Luz. 20Jacob also 53made a vow, saying, “54If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I 55take, and give me 5657food to eat and garments to wear, 21and 58I return to my father’s house in 59safety, 60then the Lord will be my God. 22And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, 61will be God’s house, and 62of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”