1 Then the old man called Jacob to him. He said, “Don't take a Canaanite woman for your wife. 2 But go to Mesopotamia, to your grandfather Bethuel. You can take a girl from there, one of your uncle Laban's daughters. 3 May the most powerful God bless you and your wife and give you many children, so that you may be the ancestor of many nations. 4 May he bless you and your descendants just as he blessed Abraham before. And may you own this country that God first gave to Abraham, where you grew up and where you live today.”

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban. Laban was the son of Bethuel the Aramean, and he was also Rebecca's brother. And Rebecca was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Esau heard that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife there. He also knew what Isaac had told Jacob when he blessed him. He had said, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7 And Esau knew that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone away to Mesopotamia. 8 Then Esau realized that his father did not like the Canaanite women. 9 So he went to Ishmael to get a wife from his family. Ishmael was Abraham's son. Then Esau married Ishmael's daughter. She was called Mahalath and her brother was called Nebaioth.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set off to go to Haran. 11 He went on and on until sunset, when he stopped and camped there for the night. He lay down to sleep and made his head comfortable on a stone. Then he slept, 12 and had a dream. This is what he dreamed. He saw a long ladder reaching from the ground high up to heaven and angels were going up and coming down on it.

13 Yahweh was standing beside Jacob, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and to your descendants this land that you are lying on. 14 Your descendants will be many like the dust of the earth. They will own this place and they will make their country bigger on all sides. I will bless all the nations just as I am blessing you now and I will bless your descendants later. 15 I will stay near you and keep you safe wherever you are. Then afterwards I will bring you back again to this place. I will not leave you; I will do everything I have promised you.”

16 Jacob woke up and said to himself, “Yahweh is here in this place and I didn't know!” 17 Then he was afraid and said, “This is a very frightening place! It must be the house of God! It must be the gate that opens into heaven!”

18 Jacob got up next morning and took the stone that his head had been resting on and stood it up there so that people would know that Yahweh had come and appeared there. Then he poured olive oil on the stone so that it would belong to God. 19 He named the place Bethel, because Bethel means “house of God.” At first the town nearby was called Luz.

20 Then Jacob made a promise to Yahweh. He said, “If you will stay near me and keep me safe on my way and give me food and clothes, 21 and if I come back safely to my father's home, then you, Yahweh, will be my God.” 22 Then he said, “I have stood this stone up here today so that I can remember you, and this will be the place where people will worship you. If you give me ten cattle, I will give one back to you. If you give me ten of anything, I will give you back one. I will always do that.”