Genesis 28

Then Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

Get up, go to Paddan Aram, to the home of Bethuel the father of your mother, and take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laban the brother of your mother. \*

And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples.

And may he give the blessing of Abraham to you, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” \*

Then Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. \*

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife for himself from there, {and that} when he blessed him, then he commanded him, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”

and {that} Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan Aram. \*

Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing in the eyes of Isaac his father.

So Esau went to Ishmael and he took as a wife Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his wives {who belonged} to him. \*

And Jacob left from Beersheba and set out for Haran.

Then he reached a {certain} place, and he stopped there because the sun had gone. And he took {one} of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and he lay down in that place. \*

And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set up on the earth and its top reached to the heavens, and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, God was standing above it, and he said, “I {am} God, the God of Abraham your grandfather and the God of Isaac. The land that you are lying on I will give to you and to your offspring. \*

And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.

And behold, I {am} with you, and I will watch over you in every {place} that you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” \*

Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Surely God is in this place, but I did not know {it}!”

So he was afraid and said, “How awesome this place is! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this {is} the gateway of heaven!” \*

Then in the morning Jacob got up early, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and stood it up {as} a pillar, and he poured oil on its top.

And he called the name of that place Bethel, even though Luz {had been} the name of the town at first. \*

Then Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this road that I am walking on and give to me bread to eat and clothes to wear,

and {if} I return in peace to the home of my father, then God will be God to me,

and this stone that I have stood up {as} a pillar will be the house of God, and all that you give to me I will tithe a tenth to you.” \*