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.”
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，使你生養眾多，人丁興旺，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土地。」 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以掃看見以撒給雅各祝福，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。他就地取了一塊石頭枕在頭下睡覺， 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耶和華站在梯子上面28·13 「梯子上面」或譯「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土，遍佈四方，地上萬族必因你和你的後裔而蒙福。 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：「耶和華誠然在這裡，我竟不知道。」 17他就害怕起來，說：「這地方何等可畏！這裡正是上帝的殿，是通天的大門。」
18雅各清早起來，把枕的那塊石頭立成柱子，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，一路保護我，供給我衣食， 21帶領我平安地回到父親家，我就一定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。」
