Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah's family

1Isaac called out for Jacob to come to him. And when they were together, Isaac prayed and asked God to be good to Jacob. Then Isaac said, “Jacob, you must not marry a woman from this country!

2I want you to leave Canaan straight away, and go to where your mother's father, Bethuel lives in Harran. Your uncle Laban lives there too. Go and marry one of his daughters.”

3Isaac prayed for Jacob, and said, “God Most Powerful, I am asking you to bless my son Jacob. Do good things for him and make him strong. Help him find a wife, and give him so many children that they become many nations.

4God Most Powerful, you promised this country to my father Abraham, but we still live like strangers here. I am asking you to make the same promise to Jacob that you made to my father Abraham, so that the family that comes from Jacob will have this country for themselves.”

5Then Isaac sent Jacob to his mother's relations who lived in Harran. That was where his grandfather Bethuel the Aramean, and his uncle Laban lived. Esau and Jacob's mother Rebekah was Laban's sister.

Jacob's brother Esau married another woman

6Esau found out that Isaac had said to Jacob, “I do not want you to marry a woman from this Canaanite country!” And Esau heard that Isaac had prayed for Jacob and sent him to Harran to find a wife from their relations.

7When Esau found out that Jacob had listened to his parents and gone to his uncle's place in Harran. Then he was able to understand how much his Canaanite wives upset his father.

9So Esau went to his uncle Ishmael to get another wife. Ishmael had a daughter, named Ma-hal-ath and a son named Neb-you-cad-nezzaray-oth. Esau married Ma-hal-ath and so now he had 3 wives.

Jacob had a dream

10This is the story of Jacob's trip. He left his home in Beersheba and started to go to Harran.

11Just as the sun was going down, Jacob set up his camp. He found a stone and used it as a pillow and went to sleep.

12In the night he had a dream. He saw stairs going up from the ground all the way into heaven. And he saw God's angels going up and down the stairs.

13In his dream, Jacob saw God standing near him. God said, “Jacob, I am the Lord. I am the God that your father Isaac and your grandfather Abraham worshipped and respected. Listen, just like I promised your grandfather Abraham and your father Isaac, I will give you all this country, this ground that you are sleeping on. And it will belong to you and to all the families that will come from you.

14No one can count the little bits of dirt on the ground and just like that, no one will be able to count the families that will come from you. Your family will spread out all over the world and be a blessing to all people. That means that you will do good things for them and make them strong.

15Jacob, I will be with you wherever you go. I will look after you and make sure nothing bad happens to you. One day I will bring you back to this country. I will keep my promise and I will always be with you.”

16Jacob woke up from his dream and was very frightened. He said, “This is a powerful place. I did not know it, but God must live here. This place is like a doorway into heaven.”

18Early the next morning, Jacob picked up the stone that he had used for a pillow and put it up in a place where people would see it. Then he poured olive oil all over the stone to show that it was a special place for God.

19He called that place Bethel. Bethel means God's house. But before that time, it was called Luz.

20Then Jacob made a strong promise to God. He said, “God, if you go with me and look after me while I am travelling, if you give me food and clothes to wear, and if you take me back to my father Isaac's camp safely, then you, Lord, you will be my God. And I tell you, I will not worship or respect any other gods or spirit. You are the only God that I will respect, and I will do everything you tell me.

22God Most Powerful, I have put this stone here as a sign that it is a special place. It will be a place where people can pray and show respect to you. I promise you, God Most Powerful, that when you give me anything, I will split it up into 10 parts and I will give you the first part.”