CHAPTER 28
So Isaac
called for
Jacob
and blessed
him.
“Do not
take
a wife
from the Canaanite
women,”
he commanded.
“Go
at once
to Paddan-aram,
to the house
of your mother’s
father
Bethuel,
and take
a wife
from among the daughters
of Laban,
your mother’s
brother.
May God
Almighty
bless
you
and make you fruitful
and multiply you,
so that you may become
a company
of peoples.
And may He give
the blessing
of Abraham
to
you and your descendants,
so that you may possess
the land
where you dwell as a foreigner,
the land
God
gave
to Abraham.”
So Isaac
sent
Jacob
to Paddan-aram,
to
Laban
son
of Bethuel
the Aramean,
the brother
of Rebekah,
the mother
of Jacob
and Esau.
Now Esau
learned
that
Isaac
had blessed
Jacob
and sent
him to Paddan-aram
to take
a wife
there,
commanding him,
“Do not
marry
a Canaanite
woman,”
Esau
went
to
Ishmael
and married
Mahalath,
the sister
of Nebaioth
and daughter
of Abraham’s
son
Ishmael,
in addition to
the wives
he already had.
On reaching
a certain place,
he spent the night
there
because
the sun
had set.
And taking
one of the stones
from that place,
he put
it under his head
and lay down
to sleep.
And Jacob dreamed
about
a ladder
that rested
on the earth
with its top
reaching
up to heaven,
and God’s
angels
were going up
and down the ladder.
And there
at the top
the LORD
was standing
and saying,
“I
am the LORD,
the God
of your father
Abraham
and the God
of Isaac.
I will give
you and your descendants
the land
on which
you
now lie.
Your descendants
will be
like the dust
of the earth,
and you will spread out
to the west
and east
and north
and south.
All
the families
of the earth
will be blessed
through you
and your offspring.
Look,
I
am with you,
and I will watch over you
wherever
you go,
and I will bring you back
to
this
land.
For
I will not
leave
you until
I have done
what
I have promised
you.”
And he was afraid
and said,
“How
awesome
is this
place!
This
is none
other than
the house
of God;
this
is the gate
of heaven!”
Early
the next morning,
Jacob
took
the stone
that
he had placed
under his head,
and he set it up
as a pillar.
He poured
oil
on
top of it,
Then Jacob
made
a vow,
saying,
“If
God
will be
with
me and watch over
me on this
journey,
and if He will provide
me
with food
to eat
and clothes
to wear,
And this
stone
I have set up
as a pillar
will be
God’s
house,
and of all
that
You give
me,
I will surely
give You a tenth.”