⁴¹ So Esau harbored animosity toward Jacob because of the way his father had blessed him. Esau kept saying to himself,^[a] “The time^[b] to mourn for my father is very near. That’s when I’m going to kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² Eventually, what Rebekah’s older son Esau had been saying was reported to her, so she sent for her younger son Jacob and warned him, “Look! Your brother is planning to get even by killing you.^{[c] 43} Son, you’d better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran, ⁴⁴ and stay there with him a few days until your brother’s fury subsides.^{[d] 45} After that happens^[e] and he has forgotten what you’ve done to him, I’ll send for you so you can return from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah also told herself,^[f] “Heth’s daughters are making me tired of living. If Jacob marries one of Heth’s daughters, and she turns out to be just like these other local women,^[g] what kind of life would there be left for me?”

Isaac Sends Jacob to Paddan-aram

28 Later, Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, instructing him, “Don’t marry a wife from the local Canaanite women. ² Instead, get up, travel to Paddan-aram,^[h] and visit the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of Laban’s daughters, since he’s your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful so that your descendants^[i] become a whole group of people. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessings that he gave Abraham. May you possess the land where you have lived^[j] that God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob off toward Paddan-aram^[k] to visit Bethuel’s son Laban, the Aramean^[l] and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.