Jacob left home

1Isaac sent somebody to get Jacob, and Jacob came to Isaac’s room. Then Isaac talked strongly to Jacob. Isaac said, “My son, don’t marry any women that live here in Canaan country.

2I want you to marry somebody from our family. So leave this place straight away, and go to Paddan Aram country. Your mother’s father Bethuel, he lives in that place. And your mother’s brother Laban, he lives there too. I want you to pick one of Laban’s daughters and marry her.”

3Then Isaac said, “God has power over everything. So I’m asking God to be good to you. I’m asking him to give you lots of kids and grand-kids, so that your family will grow into lots of different tribes.

4And I’m asking him to give all this country to you and the people that will be born into your family later on. Right now, this country doesn’t belong to you. You are just camping here. But one day, your family will take this country for themselves, just like God promised to your grand-father Abraham.”

5Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and Jacob left to go to his uncle Laban in Paddan Aram country. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, she was Jacob and Esau’s mother. Laban and Rebekah’s father was Bethuel, and he was from the Aram tribe.

Esau married another woman

6Esau found out that Isaac asked God to be good to Jacob, and that Isaac said to Jacob, “Don’t marry any of the women that live here in Canaan country.” And he found out that Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan Aram country, to find a wife there.

7And Esau knew that Jacob left to go to Paddan Aram country, just like his father and mother told Jacob to.

8Then Esau knew that his father Isaac didn’t like the women from Canaan country.

9Esau already had 2 wives, and they were both from Canaan country. So he thought, “I have to marry a woman from our own family, so that my father will be happy with me again.” So Esau went to the place where his uncle Ishmael lived. Ishmael was Abraham’s son. And Esau married Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath. Her oldest brother was called Nebayoth. Then Esau had 3 wives.

Jacob saw God in a dream

10This is the story about what happened to Jacob next, after his father Isaac sent him away to find a wife. Jacob left his home in Beersheba, and he started to go towards the town called Haran, in Paddan Aram country.

11He kept on walking until the sun started to go down. Then he stopped for the night. There were lots of stones in that place, and Jacob got one of those stones, and he put it on the ground at his head. Then he lay down and went to sleep.

12While Jacob was asleep, he had a dream. In that dream, he saw lots of steps going up from the earth, and those steps went all the way up into the sky. And Jacob saw lots of God’s angel messengers on those steps. Some of those angel messengers were going up the steps towards the sky, and some of them were going down the steps towards the earth.

13Then Jacob saw God standing near him. And God talked to Jacob. He said, “I am God, my name is Yahweh. I am the one that looked after your grand-father Abraham and your father Isaac. I’m making you a promise about this country where you are sleeping right now. I will give all this country to you and to the people that will be born into your family later on.

14Lots of people will be born into your family, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of little bits of dirt on the ground. And those people in your family, they will spread out a long way, and they will live in lots of different places. Some of them will go west, some of them will go east, some of them will go north, and some of them will go south. And I will use your family to do good things for all the families in the world.

15You can be sure that I will be with you wherever you go. I will look after you and I will keep you safe. Right now, you are going to another country. But one day, I will bring you back to this country again. Yes, I will stay with you, and I will keep all these promises that I’m making to you.”

16Then Jacob woke up, and he said, “Now I know that God is in this place. I didn’t know that before, but now I do.”

17So Jacob got frightened. He said, “This place frightens me. I know for sure that God lives here. This place joins up with heaven.”

18Early the next morning, Jacob picked up the stone that was at his head, and he stood it up and poured olive oil on top of it. Jacob did those things to show that God was in that place, and that place was special.

19And Jacob named that place Bethel. That name means God’s house. At that time, the town nearby was called Luz. But later, people called that town Bethel.

20Jacob prayed to God. He said, “God, you know that I’m walking a long way to Haran. Please stay with me and look after me while I’m away. Please give me food to eat and clothes to wear. And please keep me safe, so that one day I can go back home to my family.” Then Jacob made promises to God. He said, “God, if you will do all those things that I asked, then I will respect you properly, and you Yahweh will be my God. And this special stone that I put here, it will show people that you are here in this place, and people can come here to show you respect. And I promise that whenever you give me good things, I will always split them up into 10 parts and give one part back to you.”