28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessedh him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.i 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,a j to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.k Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.l 3 May God Almightyb m blessn you and make you fruitfulo and increase your numbersp until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,q so that you may take possession of the landr where you now reside as a foreigner,s the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,t and he went to Paddan Aram,u to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,v the brother of Rebekah,w who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now 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,”x 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite womeny were to his father Isaac;z 9 so he went to Ishmaela and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaiothb and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.c

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beershebad and set out for Harran.e 11 When he reached a certain place,f he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his headg and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dreamh 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.i 13 There above itc stood the Lord,j and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.k I will give you and your descendants the landl on which you are lying.m 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and youn will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.o All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.d p 15 I am with youq and will watch over your wherever you go,s and I will bring you back to this land.t I will not leave youu until I have done what I have promised you.v”w

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

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his heada and set it up as a pillarb and poured oil on top of it.c 19 He called that place Bethel,e d though the city used to be called Luz.e

20 Then Jacob made a vow,f saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over meg on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wearh 21 so that I return safelyi to my father’s household,j then the Lordf will be my Godk 22 andg this stone that I have set up as a pillarl will be God’s house,m and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.n”