Jacob Searches for a Wife

28 Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him [^Land said to him], “You must not marry a ·Canaanite woman [^Ldaughter of Canaan]. ² ·Go [^LGet up and go] to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, in ·northwestern Mesopotamia [^LPaddan-aram; 25:20]. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters. ³ May God Almighty bless you and ·give you many children [^Lmake you fruitful and multiply you; 1:22], and may you become a ·group [assembly; congregation; company] of many peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your ·descendants [^Lseed] the blessing of Abraham so that you may ·own [possess] the land ·where you are now living as a stranger [^Lof your wandering/sojourn/alien status], the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob to ·northwestern Mesopotamia [^LPaddan-aram], to Laban the brother of Rebekah. Bethuel the Aramean was the father of Laban and Rebekah, and Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Esau ·learned [^Lsaw] that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to ·northwestern Mesopotamia [^LPaddan-aram] to find a wife there. He also ·learned [^Lsaw] that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a ·Canaanite woman [^Ldaughter of Canaan] ⁷ and that Jacob had ·obeyed [listened to] his father and mother and had gone to ·northwestern Mesopotamia [^LPaddan-aram]. ⁸ So Esau saw that ·his father Isaac did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women [^Cthe daughters of Canaan were bad/evil in the eyes of his father Isaac]. ⁹ Now Esau already had wives, but he went to Ishmael son of Abraham, and he married Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter. Mahalath was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba [21:14] and set out for Haran [11:31]. ¹¹ When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it ·to go to sleep [^Land lay down in that place]. ¹² Jacob dreamed that there was a ·ladder [or stairway; or ramp] resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw ·angels [messengers] of God ·going up and coming down [ascending and descending on] ·the ladder [^Lit; John 1:51]. ¹³ Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder [28:12], and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your ·descendants [^Lseed] the ·land [ground] on which you are now ·sleeping [lying; 12:1–3]. ¹⁴ Your ·descendants [^Lseed] will be as many as the dust of the earth [13:16]. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the ·families [clans] of the earth will ·be blessed [or bless themselves] through you and your ·descendants [seed]. ¹⁵ I am with you and will ·protect [guard] you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not ·leave [abandon; forsake] you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not know it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone ·he had slept on [^Lwhich was under his head] and set it up ·on its end [^Las a pillar; 31:13, 45; 35:14, 20; Ex. 24:4; ^Ca practice later prohibited because similar to Canaanite religion (Ex. 23:24; 34:13; Deut. 12:3)]. Then he poured olive oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ ·At first [Formerly], the name of that city was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel [^C“house of God”].

²⁰ Then Jacob ·made a promise [^Lvowed a vow]. He said, “I want God to be with me and to ·protect [guard] me on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so I will be able to return ·in peace [or safely] to my father’s house. If the Lord does these things, he will be my God. ²² This stone which I have set up ·on its end [^Las a pillar] will be the house of God. And I will give God ·one-tenth [a tithe] of all he gives me.”