Genesis 28

So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed^g him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.^h Go at once to Paddan Aram,ⁱ to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.^j Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^k May God Almighty^l bless^m you and make you fruitfulⁿ and increase your numbers^o until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,^p so that you may take possession of the land^q where you now reside as a foreigner,^r the land God gave to Abraham.” Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,^s and he went to Paddan Aram,^t to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,^u the brother of Rebekah,^v who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

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,”^w and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women^x were to his father Isaac;^y so he went to Ishmael^z and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth^a and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.^b

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

Jacob left Beersheba^a and set out for Harran.^b When he reached a certain place,^c he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head^d and lay down to sleep. He had a dream^e 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.^f There above it stood the Lord,^g and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.^h I will give you and your descendants the landⁱ on which you are lying.^j Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you^k will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.^l All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^m I am with youⁿ and will watch over you^op wherever you go,^q and I will bring you back to this land.^r I will not leave you^s until I have done what I have promised you.^t”^u

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

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head^y and set it up as a pillar^z and poured oil on top of it.^a He called that place Bethel,^b though the city used to be called Luz.^c

Then Jacob made a vow,^d saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me^e on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear^f so that I return safely^g to my father’s household,^h then the Lord will be my Godⁱ and this stone that I have set up as a pillar^j will be God’s house,^k and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.^l”