Jacob’s Departure
1. Now Isaac summoned Jacob, and blessed him, charging him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.
2. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
3. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
4. 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.”
5. So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Marries Mahalath
6. Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him on his way to Paddan-aram, to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him, he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.”
7. Also, he saw that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.
8. So Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women.
9. So Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob’s Ladder
10. Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
11. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12. 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.
13. And there above it stood the LORD, and He said: “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.
14. 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.
15. Behold, 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.”
16. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.”
17. 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.”
The Stone of Bethel
18. Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
19. And he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
20. 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,
21. so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.
22. And this stone, which 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.”