28 1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. He commanded him, saying, "Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan." 2 Go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take a wife for yourself there from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. 3 May El Shaddai — your Father Almighty — bless you, make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May he give you the blessing of Abraham — to you and to your offspring with you — that you may inherit the land where you are living as a foreigner, which our Father gave to Abraham.
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he commanded him, "Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his father Isaac. 9 Then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as his wife in addition to the wives he had.
The Road to Haran
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed: there was a stairway set up on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven. And there the angels of our Father were ascending and descending on it. a a v12 Jesus identifies himself as this stairway — the connection between earth and heaven, the one through whom we come to our Father (John 1:51).
13 And there above it stood our Father, who said, "I am your Father, the Father of Abraham your father and of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring." 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. 15 And know this: I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely our Father is in 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 our Father, and this is the gate of heaven."
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 19 He named that place Bethel, though Luz had been the city's previous name. b b v19 Bethel means “house of God”; the town was formerly called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey, and will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and I return safely to my father's house, then the Sovereign Father will be my Father, 22 and this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be the house of our Father; and I will surely give you a tenth of everything you give me."