Genesis 28 – NIV & CCL

New International Version

Genesis 28:1-22

1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram,28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7 to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5Then 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.

6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11When 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. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it28:13 Or There beside him 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 are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) 15I am with you and will watch over you wherever 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.”

16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He called that place Bethel,28:19 Bethel means house of God. though the city used to be called Luz.

20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord28:20,21 Or Since God… father’s household, the Lord will be my God 22and28:21,22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

The Word of God in Contemporary Chichewa

Genesis 28:1-22

1Choncho Isake anayitanitsa Yakobo namudalitsa nʼkumuwuzitsa kuti, “Usakwatire mkazi wa kuno ku Kanaani. 2Panopo upite ku Padanaramu, ku nyumba kwa Betueli abambo a amayi akowa, kumeneko ukakwatire mmodzi mwa ana aakazi a Labani, mlongo wa amayi akowa. 3Mulungu Wamphamvuzonse akudalitse iwe nakupatse ana ambiri mpaka udzasanduke gulu lalikulu la mitundu ya anthu. 4Mulunguyo akudalitse iwe monga mmene anamudalitsira Abrahamu kuti zidzukulu zako zidzalandira dziko limene ukukhalamo ngati mlendo kuti lidzakhale lawo. Ili ndi dziko limene Mulungu anapereka kwa Abrahamu.” 5Ndipo Isake anamulola Yakobo kuti anyamuke kupita ku Padanaramu kwa Labani mwana wa Betueli Mwaramu. Labani anali mlongo wa Rebeka, mayi wa Yakobo ndi Esau.

6Tsopano Esau anadziwa kuti Isake anadalitsa Yakobo ndi kumutumiza ku Padanaramu kuti akakwatire kumeneko. Anawuzidwanso kuti, “Usakwatire mkazi wa ku Kanaani.” 7Yakobo anamvera abambo ake ndi amayi ake ndi kupita ku Padanaramu. 8Ndiye pamenepo Esau anazindikira kuti abambo ake Isake sankakondwera ndi akazi a ku Kanaani; 9anapita kwa Ismaeli mwana wa Abrahamu nakwatira Mahalati mwana wa Ismaeli, mlongo wake wa Nebayoti. Anatero kuwonjezera akazi amene anali nawo kale.

Maloto a Yakobo pa Beteli

10Yakobo ananyamuka pa ulendo kuchoka ku Beeriseba kupita ku Harani. 11Atafika pa malo pena, anayima kuti agonepo chifukwa dzuwa linali litalowa. Anatenga mwala wina pomwepo natsamiritsapo mutu wake, ndipo anagona. 12Mʼmaloto, anaona makwerero oyimikidwa pansi ndipo anakafika kumwamba. Angelo a Mulungu amakwera ndi kutsika pa makwereropo. 13Tsono Yehova anayimirira pambali pake, nati, “Ine ndine Yehova, Mulungu wa Abrahamu kholo lake la Isake abambo ako. Ndidzakupatsa iwe ndi zidzukulu zako dziko limene ukugonamolo. 14Zidzukulu zako zidzachuluka ngati fumbi la pa dziko lapansi ndipo zidzabalalikira kumadzulo ndi kummawa, kumpoto ndi kummwera. Anthu onse adzalandira madalitso kudzera mwa iwe ndi zidzukulu zako. 15Ine ndili nawe pamodzi ndipo ndidzakuyangʼanira kulikonse upiteko, ndipo ndidzakubwezera ku dziko lino. Sindidzakusiya mpaka nditachita zimene ndakulonjezazi.”

16Yakobo atadzidzimuka, anati, “Zoonadi Yehova ali pa malo ano, ndipo ine sindinadziwe.” 17Tsono anachita mantha ndipo anati, “Malo ano ndi woopsa ndithu. Zoonadi pano ndi pa nyumba ya Mulungu ndi khomo la kumwamba.”

18Mmamawa mwake Yakobo anatenga mwala umene anatsamira mutu wake uja nawuyimika ngati chipilala ndi kuthira mafuta pamwamba pake 19Iye anawatcha malowo Beteli, ngakhale kuti poyamba mzindawo ankawutcha Luzi.

20Pamenepo Yakobo analumbira kwa Yehova nati, “Ngati inu Mulungu mukhala ndi ine, kundiyangʼanira pa ulendo wangawu ndi kundipatsa chakudya ndi chovala; 21ngati inu mudzandibweretsa kwathu mu mtendere, ndiye kuti mudzakhala Mulungu wanga, 22ndipo mwala uwu ndawuyimikawu udzakhala Nyumba ya Mulungu. Ine ndidzakupatsani chakhumi cha zinthu zonse zimene mudzandipatse.”