Genesis 28
Isaac instructed Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, but instead to go to Mesopotamia and find a wife among the daughters of Laban, his maternal uncle. Jacob obeyed and set out for Mesopotamia, while Esau, seeing this, took another wife from the daughters of Ishmael to try to gain favor with his father. Jacob stopped to rest at a place where he had a dream in which God promised to give him the land, make his offspring numerous, and be his guardian. Upon waking, Jacob set up a monument and made a vow to God, promising to worship and tithe to Him if He would be with him and protect him on his journey.
1And so Isaac called for Jacob, and he blessed him, and he instructed him, saying: "Do not be willing to accept a mate from the family of Canaan2But go, and journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and there accept for yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your maternal uncle3And may God almighty bless you, and may he cause you to increase and also to multiply, so that you may be influential among the people4And may he give the blessings of Abraham to you, and to your offspring after you, so that you may possess the land of your sojourning, which he promised to your grandfather.5And when Isaac had dismissed him, setting out, he went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother to Rebekah, his mother6But Esau, seeing that his father had blessed Jacob and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to take a wife from there, and that, after the blessing, he had instructed him, saying: ‘You shall not accept a wife from the daughters of Canaan,7and that Jacob, obeying his parents, had gone into Syria8having evidence also that his father did not look with favor upon the daughters of Canaan9he went to Ishmael, and he took as a wife, beside those he had before, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth10Meanwhile Jacob, having departed from Beersheba, continued on to Haran11And when he had arrived at a certain place, where he would rest after the setting of the sun, he took some of the stones that lay there, and placing them under his head, he slept in the same place12And he saw in his sleep: a ladder standing upon the earth, with its top touching heaven, also, the Angels of God ascending and descending by it13and the Lord, leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land, in which you sleep, I will give to you and to your offspring14And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the North, and to the Meridian. And in you and in your offspring, all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed15And I will be your guardian wherever you will journey, and I will bring you back into this land. Neither will I dismiss you, until I have accomplished all that I have said.16And when Jacob had awakened from sleep, he said, "Truly, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.17And being terrified, he said: "How terrible this place is! This is nothing other than the house of God and the gateway of heaven.18Therefore, Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone which he had placed under his head, and he set it up as monument, pouring oil over it19And he called the name of the city, ‘Bethel,’ which before was called Luz20And then he made a vow, saying: "If God will be with me, and will guard me along the way by which I walk, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear21and if I will return prosperously to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God22and this stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be called ‘the House of God.’ And from all the things that you will give to me, I will offer tithes to you.
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