1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “Don’t get married to a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Find a wife for yourself there. Take her from among the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban. 3May the Mighty God bless you. May he give you children. May he make your family larger until you become a community of nations. 4May he give you and your children after you the blessing he gave to Abraham. Then you can take over the land where you now live as an outsider. It’s the land God gave to Abraham.” 5Isaac sent Jacob on his way. Jacob went to Paddan Aram. He went to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was Rebekah’s brother. And Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Esau found out that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram. Isaac wanted him to get a wife from there. Esau heard that when Isaac blessed Jacob, he commanded him, “Don’t get married to a woman from Canaan.” 7Esau also learned that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Then Esau realized how much his father Isaac disliked Canaanite women. 9So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael. Esau added her to the wives he already had.
Jacob Has a Dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beersheba and started out for Harran. 11He reached a certain place and stopped for the night. The sun had already set. He took one of the stones there and placed it under his head. Then he lay down to sleep. 12In a dream he saw a stairway standing on the earth. Its top reached to heaven. The angels of God were going up and coming down on it. 13The Lord stood beside the stairway. He said, “I am the Lord. I am the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your children after you the land you are lying on. 14They will be like the dust of the earth that can’t be counted. They will spread out to the west and to the east. They will spread out to the north and to the south. All nations on earth will be blessed because of you and your children after you. 15I am with you. I will watch over you everywhere you go. And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16Jacob woke up from his sleep. Then he thought, “The Lord is surely in this place. And I didn’t even know it.” 17Jacob was afraid. He said, “How holy this place is! This must be the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head. He set it up as a sacred stone. And he poured olive oil on top of it. 19He named that place Bethel. But the city used to be called Luz.
20Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “May God be with me. May he watch over me on this journey I’m taking. May he give me food to eat and clothes to wear. 21May he do as he has promised so that I can return safely to my father’s home. Then you, Lord, will be my God. 22This stone I’ve set up as a sacred stone will be God’s house. And I’ll give you a tenth of everything you give me.”
1以撒把雅各叫来，给他祝福，又嘱咐他说：“你不要娶迦南的女子为妻。 2马上去巴旦·亚兰，到你外祖父彼土利家，在你舅父拉班的女儿中选一个做妻子。 3愿全能的上帝赐福给你，使你的子孙众多，成为许多民族。 4愿上帝把赐给亚伯拉罕的福气赐给你和你的后代，让你承受你寄居之地为产业，就是上帝赐给亚伯拉罕的地方。” 5以撒让雅各前往巴旦·亚兰，去亚兰人彼土利的儿子拉班那里。拉班是雅各和以扫的舅父。
6以扫看见父亲给雅各祝福，让他到巴旦·亚兰娶妻，叮嘱他不要娶迦南的女子， 7又看见雅各听从父母到巴旦·亚兰去了， 8就知道父亲以撒不喜欢迦南的女子。 9他便到亚伯拉罕的儿子以实玛利那里，娶了以实玛利的女儿、尼拜约的妹妹玛哈拉为妻。他娶玛哈拉以前已经有两个妻子了。
雅各的梦
10雅各离开别示巴，前往哈兰。 11到了一个地方，太阳已经下山，他便在那里过夜。他枕着一块石头睡觉， 12梦中看见有个梯子立在地上，直通到天上，梯子上有上帝的天使上上下下。 13耶和华站在梯子上28:13 “在梯子上”或译“在他旁边”。对雅各说：“我是耶和华，是你祖父亚伯拉罕的上帝，也是以撒的上帝。我要把你现在躺卧的地方赐给你和你的后代。 14你的后代必多如地上的尘沙，遍布四方，地上万族必因你和你的后代而蒙福。 15我与你同在，无论你去哪里，我都会保护你，领你返回这片土地。我必实现对你的应许，决不离弃你。”
16雅各一觉醒来，说：“耶和华居然在这里，我却不知道。” 17他就害怕起来，说：“这地方何等可畏！这里是上帝的家，是通天的大门。”
18雅各清早起来，把枕的那块石头立成柱子作记号，在上面浇上油。 19他称那地方为伯特利28:19 “伯特利”意思是“上帝的家”。，那地方以前叫路斯。 20雅各许愿说：“如果上帝与我同在，在路上保护我，供给我衣食， 21带领我平安地回到父亲的家，我就一定敬奉耶和华为我的上帝。 22我立为柱子的这块石头必成为上帝的殿。凡你赐给我的，我必把十分之一献给你。”
