Isaac Sends Jacob to Mesopotamia
Genesis 28, verse 1. Now Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Genesis 28, verse 2. Arise, go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. Genesis 28, verse 3. May God bless you, and increase and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of nations; Genesis 28, verse 4. and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham.” Genesis 28, verse 5. So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Genesis 28, verse 6. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to take himself a wife from there, and as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” Genesis 28, verse 7. and Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia. Genesis 28, verse 8. Also, Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. Genesis 28, verse 9. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob's Ladder
Genesis 28, verse 10. Now Jacob went out from the Well of Oath and went toward Haran. Genesis 28, verse 11. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. Then he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Genesis 28, verse 12. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28, verse 13. So behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. Do not fear, the land on which you lie I will give to you and your seed. Genesis 28, verse 14. Also, your seed shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 28, verse 15. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28, verse 16. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28, verse 17. So he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28, verse 18. Now Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone he put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. Genesis 28, verse 19. Thus Jacob called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city was Luz previously. Genesis 28, verse 20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If the Lord God will be with me, and keep me in this way I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, Genesis 28, verse 21. and bring me back in safety to my father's house, then the Lord shall be my God. Genesis 28, verse 22. And this stone I set as a pillar shall be God's house to me, and of all You give me I will surely give a tithe to You.”