28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed^(A) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.^{(B) 2} Go at once to Paddan Aram,^[a](C) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.^(D) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{(E) 3} May God Almighty^[b](F) bless^(G) you and make you fruitful^(H) and increase your numbers^(I) until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,^(J) so that you may take possession of the land^(K) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(L) the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,^(M) and he went to Paddan Aram,^(N) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,^(O) the brother of Rebekah,^(P) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”^{(Q) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women^(R) were to his father Isaac;^{(S) 9} so he went to Ishmael^(T) and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth^(U) and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.^(V)

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba^(W) and set out for Harran.^{(X) 11} When he reached a certain place,^(Y) he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head^(Z) and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream^(AA) in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.^{(AB) 13} There above it^[c] stood the Lord,^(AC) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.^(AD) I will give you and your descendants the land^(AE) on which you are lying.^{(AF) 14} Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you^(AG) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.^(AH) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^{[d](AI) 15} I am with you^(AJ) and will watch over you^(AK) wherever you go,^(AL) and I will bring you back to this land.^(AM) I will not leave you^(AN) until I have done what I have promised you.^(AO)”^(AP)

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep,^(AQ) he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!^(AR) This is none other than the house of God;^(AS) this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head^(AT) and set it up as a pillar^(AU) and poured oil on top of it.^{(AV) 19} He called that place Bethel,^[e](AW) though the city used to be called Luz.^(AX)

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow,^(AY) saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me^(AZ) on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear^{(BA) 21} so that I return safely^(BB) to my father’s household,^(BC) then the Lord^[f] will be my God^{(BD) 22} and^[g] this stone that I have set up as a pillar^(BE) will be God’s house,^(BF) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.^(BG)”

Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,^(A) put on sackcloth and ashes,^(B) and went out into the city, wailing^(C) loudly and bitterly. ² But he went only as far as the king’s gate,^(D) because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³ In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

⁶ So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.^{(E) 8} He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

⁹ Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned^(F) the king has but one law:^(G) that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter^(H) to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent^(I) at this time, relief^(J) and deliverance^(K) for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”^(L)

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast^(M) for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”^(N)

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Psalm 27

Of David.