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以撒把雅各叫來，給他祝福，又囑咐他說：「你不要娶迦南的女子為妻。 2馬上去巴旦·亞蘭，到你外祖父彼土利家，在你舅父拉班的女兒中選一個做妻子。 3願全能的上帝賜福給你，使你的子孫眾多，成為許多民族。 4願上帝把賜給亞伯拉罕的福氣賜給你和你的後代，讓你承受你寄居之地為產業，就是上帝賜給亞伯拉罕的地方。」 5以撒讓雅各前往巴旦·亞蘭，去亞蘭人彼土利的兒子拉班那裡。拉班是雅各和以掃的舅父。
6以掃看見父親給雅各祝福，讓他到巴旦·亞蘭娶妻，叮囑他不要娶迦南的女子， 7又看見雅各聽從父母到巴旦·亞蘭去了， 8就知道父親以撒不喜歡迦南的女子。 9他便到亞伯拉罕的兒子以實瑪利那裡，娶了以實瑪利的女兒、尼拜約的妹妹瑪哈拉為妻。他娶瑪哈拉以前已經有兩個妻子了。
雅各的夢
10雅各離開別示巴，前往哈蘭。 11到了一個地方，太陽已經下山，他便在那裡過夜。他枕著一塊石頭睡覺， 12夢中看見有個梯子立在地上，直通到天上，梯子上有上帝的天使上上下下。 13耶和華站在梯子上28·13 「在梯子上」或譯「在他旁邊」。對雅各說：「我是耶和華，是你祖父亞伯拉罕的上帝，也是以撒的上帝。我要把你現在躺臥的地方賜給你和你的後代。 14你的後代必多如地上的塵沙，遍佈四方，地上萬族必因你和你的後代而蒙福。 15我與你同在，無論你去哪裡，我都會保護你，領你返回這片土地。我必實現對你的應許，決不離棄你。」
16雅各一覺醒來，說：「耶和華居然在這裡，我卻不知道。」 17他就害怕起來，說：「這地方何等可畏！這裡是上帝的家，是通天的大門。」
18雅各清早起來，把枕的那塊石頭立成柱子作記號，在上面澆上油。 19他稱那地方為伯特利28·19 「伯特利」意思是「上帝的家」。，那地方以前叫路斯。 20雅各許願說：「如果上帝與我同在，在路上保護我，供給我衣食， 21帶領我平安地回到父親的家，我就一定敬奉耶和華為我的上帝。 22我立為柱子的這塊石頭必成為上帝的殿。凡你賜給我的，我必把十分之一獻給你。」
