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Chapter 28

Isaac called to Jacob and blessed him and gave him this command: “You must not take a wife from among the daughters of Canaan. Up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, the father of your mother, and take a wife from there, from among the daughters of Laban, the brother of your mother. May God Almighty bless you; may he make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you become a multitude of people. May he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land in which you have dwelt as an alien, the land that God gave to Abraham.” Thus, Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, and the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that when he had blessed him, he had commanded him, “You must not take a wife from among the Canaanites.” Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan-aram. Esau then understood that Isaac disapproved of the daughters of Canaan. He therefore went to Ishmael and, besides the wives he already had, he took as wife Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.

10 Jacob’s Dream at Bethel.[a] Jacob left from Beer-sheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 He came upon a certain place and spent the night there for the sun was setting. He took a stone and used it as a pillow and slept in that place. 12 He had a dream. There was a ladder resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending upon it.

13 And the Lord stood before him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying shall be given to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth and shall extend to the west and the east, the north and the south. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed through you and through your descendants. 15 I am with you and I will protect you wherever you go. I will make you return to this country, for I will not abandon you without having done all that I have promised you.”

16 Jacob woke from sleep and said, “Truly, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was filled with fear and said, “How terrible this place is! This is truly the house of God, this is the gate to heaven.”

18 In the morning Jacob arose early, took the rock that he had used as a pillow, and erected it as a pillar pouring oil on top of it. 19 He named the place Bethel,[b] although the city had previously been called Luz.

20 Jacob made a vow, “If God remains with me and protects me in this journey that I am making and gives me bread to eat and clothes to cover me, 21 and if I return in peace to my father’s house, the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone that I am erecting as a pillar shall be a shrine to God. I will offer you one-tenth of everything that you give me.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 28:10 God does not delay in giving the refugee signs of his goodwill toward him, and the Mesopotamian period of Jacob’s life is set between two important theophanies (the second is in 32:25-31). Upon him is to be built the ladder that he saw in a vision and that unites earth with heaven. The Mesopotamian temple towers were monuments of this kind; by means of them human beings expressed their dream of making the divinity come down to them. Jacob honors the place of the unexpected vision; it will become a sanctuary visited by people until it begins to rival the official sanctuary in Jerusalem (1 Ki 12:26-32; etc.). Jesus Christ, a descendant of Jacob, will tell his first apostles that the heavens will open and that the ladder of the vision is becoming a reality in his person (Jn 1:51). Our liturgy makes the patriarch’s exclamation (Gen 28:17) its own when it celebrates the dedication of a church, which is the sign of the Christian community that prolongs the presence of the Savior on earth.
  2. Genesis 28:19 Bethel: i.e., “House of God.”

28 以撒把雅各叫来,给他祝福,又嘱咐他说:“你不要娶迦南的女子为妻。 马上去巴旦·亚兰,到你外祖父彼土利家,在你舅父拉班的女儿中选一个做妻子。 愿全能的上帝赐福给你,使你的子孙众多,成为许多民族。 愿上帝把赐给亚伯拉罕的福气赐给你和你的后代,让你承受你寄居之地为产业,就是上帝赐给亚伯拉罕的地方。” 以撒让雅各前往巴旦·亚兰,去亚兰人彼土利的儿子拉班那里。拉班是雅各和以扫的舅父。

以扫看见父亲给雅各祝福,让他到巴旦·亚兰娶妻,叮嘱他不要娶迦南的女子, 又看见雅各听从父母到巴旦·亚兰去了, 就知道父亲以撒不喜欢迦南的女子。 他便到亚伯拉罕的儿子以实玛利那里,娶了以实玛利的女儿、尼拜约的妹妹玛哈拉为妻。他娶玛哈拉以前已经有两个妻子了。

雅各的梦

10 雅各离开别示巴,前往哈兰。 11 到了一个地方,太阳已经下山,他便在那里过夜。他枕着一块石头睡觉, 12 梦中看见有个梯子立在地上,直通到天上,梯子上有上帝的天使上上下下。 13 耶和华站在梯子上[a]对雅各说:“我是耶和华,是你祖父亚伯拉罕的上帝,也是以撒的上帝。我要把你现在躺卧的地方赐给你和你的后代。 14 你的后代必多如地上的尘沙,遍布四方,地上万族必因你和你的后代而蒙福。 15 我与你同在,无论你去哪里,我都会保护你,领你返回这片土地。我必实现对你的应许,决不离弃你。”

16 雅各一觉醒来,说:“耶和华居然在这里,我却不知道。” 17 他就害怕起来,说:“这地方何等可畏!这里是上帝的家,是通天的大门。”

18 雅各清早起来,把枕的那块石头立成柱子作记号,在上面浇上油。 19 他称那地方为伯特利[b],那地方以前叫路斯。 20 雅各许愿说:“如果上帝与我同在,在路上保护我,供给我衣食, 21 带领我平安地回到父亲的家,我就一定敬奉耶和华为我的上帝。 22 我立为柱子的这块石头必成为上帝的殿。凡你赐给我的,我必把十分之一献给你。”

Footnotes

  1. 28:13 在梯子上”或译“在他旁边”。
  2. 28:19 伯特利”意思是“上帝的家”。

28 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.

And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughers of Canaan;

And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;

And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

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

11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, 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, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the 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 raiment to put on,

21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:

22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.