Isaac tells Jacob to leave
1Isaac called in Jacob and greeted him with a blessing, wishing him well. Isaac told him, “Don’t marry any of the women who live here in Canaan. [1] 2I want you to leave right now and go to Paddan-aram, [2] to the family of your mother’s dad, Bethuel. Marry one of his granddaughters—one of the daughters of your Uncle Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God All-powerful [3] take good care of you, give you lots of children, and grow your family into a huge crowd of relatives. 4May God extend to you and your descendants the promise he made to your grandfather Abraham—to give you this land where you have lived as a foreigner and an immigrant, this land God gave Abraham.” 5Isaac said goodbye to Jacob. Then Jacob left for Paddan-aram, to stay with his Uncle Laban, brother of Rebekah and son of Bethuel the Aramean. [4]Esau marries his cousin
6Esau knew that his father Isaac blessed Jacob with best wishes and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife. Esau also knew what Isaac told Jacob: “Don’t marry any of the women who live here in Canaan.” 7Esau could see that Jacob made his parents happy when he obeyed them and went to Paddan-aram. 8It became painfully obvious to Esau that Isaac didn’t want his sons marrying Canaanite women. [5] 9So Esau married his cousin next: Mahalath. She was a daughter of his Uncle Ishmael, Isaac’s big brother. Nebaioth was her sister.Jacob, dreamer on the run
10Jacob left his family’s home in Beersheba and traveled north toward the city of Haran. 11As the sun started to set he decided to make camp where he was. He took one of the stones in the area and used it as a pillow, to rest his head. 12He had a dream. He saw a stairway that started on the ground and reached up into the sky. God’s angels walked up and down the stairs, traveling between heaven and earth.13The LORD himself stood at the top of the stairs. He said, “I am the LORD. I am the God of your grandfather Abraham and your father Isaac. I want you to know something. I’m going to give this land that you’re resting on to you and your descendants. 14You’ll have so many descendants that they’ll be as impossible to count as grains of dirt on the ground. Your people will spread out in all four directions, going west, east, north, and south. Because of you and your descendants, the people of this world will be blessed—better off than they would have been without you. 15Look, you’re not alone. I’m with you. I’ll take care of you wherever you go. Someday I’ll bring you back to this land. I’m not going to leave you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”
16This startled Jacob awake. He said, “I didn’t realize it, but the LORD is here.” 17Terrified, Jacob said, “This place is holy ground. It’s the doorway to heaven, into God’s house.” 18When Jacob got up in the morning he took the stone he had used as a pillow and he set it up like a pillar. Then he poured olive oil on top of it. 19The nearby city was called Luz. But to Jacob it became Bethel. [6]
20Jacob made a promise. He said, “If God goes with me, takes care of me on this trip, provides the food and clothing I need, 21and brings me back home safely, then the LORD will be my God. 22This stone I have stood up like a pillar marks the house of God—a place of worship. I will give you, God, a tenth of everything you give me.”
