⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban ^(A)in Haran.

⁵ And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was ^(A)a ^[a]Syrian, ^(B)about to perish, and ^(C)he went down to Egypt and ^[b]dwelt there, ^(D)few in number; and there he became a nation, ^(E)great, mighty, and populous.

²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ And He said, ^(A)“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ^[a]Israel; for you have ^(B)struggled with God and ^(C)with men, and have prevailed.”

⁴¹ Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I ^(A)served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and ^(B)you have changed my wages ten times.

¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(A)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(B)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^(C)go in to her.” ²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^(D)made a feast. ²³ Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his maid ^(E)Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^(F)deceived me?”

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ^[a]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (G)Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸ Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also.

Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(A)blessed him, and ^[a]charged him, and said to him: ^(B)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ^2 (C)Arise, go to ^(D)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(E)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(F)Laban your mother’s brother.

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself 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 had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw ^(K)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(L)took ^(M)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(N)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰ Now Jacob ^(O)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(P)Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he ^(Q)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(R)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^13 (S)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(T)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(U)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your ^(V)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(W)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(X)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(Y)I am with you and will ^(Z)keep^[c] you wherever you go, and will ^(AA)bring you back to this land; for ^(AB)I will not leave you ^(AC)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(AD)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 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(AE)set it up as a pillar, ^(AF)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of ^(AG)that place ^[d]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ^20 (AH)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(AI)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(AJ)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^(AK)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(AL)then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(AM)shall be God’s house, ^(AN)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[e]tenth to You.”