Isaac Sends Jacob Away

1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him,
and charged him, and said to him,
“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

2. Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father,
and take for yourself a wife from there,
from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

3. And may God Almighty (El Shaddai) bless you,
and make you fruitful and multiply you,
that you may become a company of peoples.

4. And may He give you the blessing of Abraham,
to you and to your seed with you,
that you may possess the land of your sojournings,
which God gave to Abraham.”

5. And Isaac sent Jacob away;
and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,
the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau’s Response

6. And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob
and sent him away to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from there,
and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying,
“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”

7. and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and had gone to Paddan-Aram.

8. And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan
did not please Isaac his father;

9. then Esau went to Ishmael,
and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son,
the sister of Nebaioth,
to be his wife, in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Journey and His Dream at Bethel

10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

11. And he came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set.
And he took one of the stones of the place,
and put it at his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12. And he dreamed, and behold,
a ladder set up on the earth,
and the top of it reached to heaven;
and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13. And behold, Jehovah stood above it and said,

“I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father,
and the God of Isaac.
The land on which you lie,
to you will I give it, and to your seed.

14. And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth;
and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east,
and to the north, and to the south;
and in you and in your seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15. And behold, I am with you,
and will keep you wherever you go,
and will bring you again into this land;
for I will not leave you until I have done
that which I have spoken to you of.”

Jacob’s Awe and Vow

16. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said,
“Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I did not know it.”

17. And he was afraid, and said,
“How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God,
and this is the gate of heaven.”

18. And Jacob rose early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put at his head,
and set it up as a pillar,
and poured oil upon its top.

19. And he called the name of that place Bethel (“house of God”);
but the name of the city was Luz at first.

20. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
“If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to wear,

21. so that I come again to my father’s house in peace,
then Jehovah shall be my God;

22. and this stone, which I have set as a pillar,
shall be God’s house;
and of all that You give me,
I will surely give the tenth to You.”