The Bible

Genesis Chapter 28

¹Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, "Don't get a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

²Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. Get a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

³May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a group of peoples, ⁴and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham." ⁵Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Syrian. He was 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 get a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, "Don't get a wife from the daughters of Canaan."; ⁷and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and went to Paddan Aram.

⁸Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn't please Isaac, his father.

⁹So Esau went to Ishmael and, in addition to the wives that he already had, took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

¹⁰Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

¹¹He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.

¹²He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

¹³Behold, ForeverOne stood above it, and said, "I am ForeverOne, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring.

¹⁴Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

¹⁵Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken of to you." ¹⁶Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely ForeverOne is in this place, and I didn't know it." ¹⁷He was afraid, and said, "How awesome this place is! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven." ¹⁸Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.

¹⁹He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

²⁰Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ²¹so that I return to my father's house in peace, and ForeverOne will be my God, ²²then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you."