Study Desk

So Isaac called Jacob and ^(C1)blessed him and commanded him, ^(F1)saying to him, "^(C2)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

"Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(C1)Bethuel your mother's father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

"May ^(F1)(C1)God Almighty ^(C2)bless you and ^(C3)make you fruitful and ^(C4)multiply you, so that you may become a ^(C5)multitude of peoples.

"May He also give you the ^(C1)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^(F1)descendants with you, so that you may ^(C2)possess the land where you ^(C3)live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham."

Then ^(C1)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.

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, saying, "^(C1)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"

and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.

So Esau saw that ^(C1)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^(F1)his father Isaac;

and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^(F1)married, ^(C1)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Then Jacob departed from ^(C1)Beersheba and went toward ^(C2)Haran.

And he ^(F1)happened upon a ^(F2)(C1)particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place.

And ^(C1)he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, ^(C2)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

Then behold, ^(C1)the LORD was standing ^(F1)above it and said, "I am the LORD, ^(C2)the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give ^(C3)to you and to ^(C4)your ^(F2)descendants.

"Your ^(F1)descendants will also be like ^(C1)the dust of the earth, and you will ^(F2)spread out ^(C2)to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and ^(C3)in you and in your ^(F1)descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

"Behold, ^(C1)I am with you and ^(C2)will keep you wherever you go, and ^(C3)will bring you back to this land; for ^(C4)I will not leave you until I have done what I have ^(F1)promised you."

Then Jacob ^(C1)awoke from his sleep and said, "^(C2)The LORD is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!"

And he was afraid and said, "^(C1)How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"

So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took ^(C1)the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top.

Then he named that place ^(F1)(C1)Bethel; but ^(F2)previously the name of the city had been ^(C2)Luz.

Jacob also ^(C1)made a vow, saying, "^(C2)If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I ^(F1)take, and give me ^(F2)(C3)food to eat and garments to wear,

and ^(C1)I return to my father's house in ^(F1)safety, ^(C2)then the LORD will be my God.

"And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, ^(C1)will be God's house, and ^(C2)of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You."