Jacob’s Departure 1 UDB Then Isaac summoned Jacob and gave him a blessing. He told him this: "Do not marry a woman from the women of the Canaanite people. BSB BSB: So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded.
2 UDB Instead, go right away to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Ask one of the daughters of your mother's brother Laban to marry you. BSB BSB: “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
3 UDB I will pray that God Almighty bless you, and enable you to have many descendants, in order that they will become many different peoples. BSB BSB: May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
4 UDB I also will pray that he bless you and your descendants by enabling you to possess the land in which you are now living as a foreigner, the land that God promised to give to Abraham and his descendants." BSB BSB: And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 UDB So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan Aram to live with Rebekah's brother Laban son of Bethuel, who belonged to the people of the Arameans. (It was this Rebekah who would later give birth to Jacob and Esau.) BSB BSB: So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Marries Mahalath 6 UDB Esau found out that his father Isaac had blessed Jacob and then sent him to Paddan Aram. He also found out that when his father blessed Jacob, he told him, "Do not marry a woman from the Canaanite people," BSB BSB: Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
7 UDB and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan Aram. BSB BSB: and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
8 UDB Esau also realized that his father Isaac did not approve of women from the Canaanite people. BSB BSB: And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,
9 UDB Because of that, Esau went to see his relative Ishmael and married Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. Mahalath was the sister of Nabaioth and the granddaughter of Abraham. BSB BSB: Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
Jacob’s Ladder 10 UDB Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and started to go toward Haran. BSB BSB: Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
11 UDB When he arrived at a certain place, he stopped there because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones there and put it under his head to use as a pillow. Then he lay down and slept there. BSB BSB: On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 UDB While he was sleeping, he had a dream in which he saw a stairway. The bottom of the stairway was on the earth and the top was in the sky. Jacob also saw that God's angels were going up and down the stairway. BSB BSB: And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
13 UDB Then he saw Yahweh standing at the top of the stairway, saying, "I am Yahweh God, whom your grandfather Abraham worshiped and whom Isaac worships. I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying. BSB BSB: And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
14 UDB Your descendants will be as numerous as the particles of dust that are on the earth, and their territory will be very large. It will extend in all directions, to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south. I will bless all the clans and peoples on earth through you and your descendants. BSB BSB: Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 UDB I will help you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you; I will do for you all that I have promised to do." BSB BSB: Look, I am with you, and I will watch over 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 UDB During the night, when Jacob woke up from sleeping, he thought, "Surely Yahweh is in this place, and until now I was not aware of it!" BSB BSB: When Jacob woke up, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.”
17 UDB He was afraid, and he said, "This place is terrifying! This is surely the place where God lives, and this is the entrance to heaven!" BSB BSB: And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”
The Stone of Bethel 18 UDB The next morning Jacob got up, took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up on its end to mark the place where God had appeared to him. He poured some olive oil on top of the stone to set it apart for God. BSB BSB: Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it,
19 UDB He named that place Bethel, which means "house of God." Previously its name was Luz. BSB BSB: and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
20 UDB Jacob solemnly promised God, saying, "If you will help me and protect me while I am taking this journey, and if you give me enough food to eat and clothes to wear, BSB BSB: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
21 UDB in order that I can later return safely to my father's house, then you, Yahweh, will be the God that I will worship. BSB BSB: so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.
22 UDB This stone that I have set up will mark the place where you appeared to me. And I will give back to you a tenth of everything that you give to me." BSB BSB: And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”