28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman!1 28:2 Leave immediately2 for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the Sovereign God3 bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants!4 Then you will become5 a large nation.6 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham7 so that you may possess the land8 God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.”9 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there.10 As he blessed him,11 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.”12 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized13 that the Canaanite women14 were displeasing to15 his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married16 Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place17 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down.18 He took one of the stones19 and placed it near his head.20 Then he fell asleep21 in that place 28:12 and had a dream.22 He saw23 a stairway24 erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.25 I will give you and your descendants the ground26 you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,27 and you will spread out28 to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another29 using your name and that of your descendants.30 28:15 I am with you!31 I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
28:16 Then Jacob woke up32 and thought,33 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”
28:18 Early34 in the morning Jacob35 took the stone he had placed near his head36 and set it up as a sacred stone.37 Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel,38 although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food39 to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home,40 then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone41 that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely42 give you back a tenth of everything you give me.”43
The Marriages of Jacob