Updated on

Read Genesis Chapter 28

Up and down arrows move from one verse to the next.

1And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;

8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

9Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

21So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

You are readingKing James Version

Explanation

Genesis 28

In short

Isaac sends Jacob away to find a wife and blesses him with the promises made to Abraham. On the journey, Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven where God appears and repeats those promises to him. Jacob responds by setting up a stone as a marker, naming the place, and making a vow to serve God if he is protected.

What the text says

Verses 1-5: Isaac calls Jacob, blesses him, and orders him not to marry a Canaanite woman. Instead, Jacob must go to Padanaram to marry one of his uncle Laban's daughters. Isaac says God will bless Jacob, make him fruitful, and give him the land that God promised to Abraham. Isaac then sends Jacob away.

Verses 6-9: Esau sees that Isaac has blessed Jacob and sent him away. Esau realizes his father does not approve of Canaanite wives, so Esau takes a wife from Ishmael's family instead.

Verses 10-12: Jacob travels from Beersheba toward Haran. At a certain place, he lies down to sleep using stones as pillows. He dreams of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven with angels moving up and down it.

Verses 13-15: In the dream, the Lord stands above the ladder and tells Jacob that the land beneath him will be given to Jacob and his descendants. God promises Jacob's seed will spread in all directions and through Jacob all families of the earth will be blessed. God says he will be with Jacob everywhere he goes and will bring him back to this land.

Verses 16-19: Jacob wakes up amazed, saying God was in this place and he did not know it. He calls the place dreadful, saying it is God's house and heaven's gate. He takes the stone he slept on, sets it up as a pillar, pours oil on it, and names the place Bethel, though its former name was Luz.

Verses 20-22: Jacob makes a vow. If God stays with him, provides food and clothing, and brings him home safely, then the Lord will be his God. The stone pillar will be God's house, and Jacob will give back to God a tenth of everything God gives him.

Takeaways

  • God speaks promises directly to Jacob, connecting him to the earlier covenant made with Abraham.
  • Jacob marks the place with a stone and a vow, turning a moment of encounter with God into something he will remember.
  • Jacob's promise to give a tenth back to God is a response to what God has promised him.

Explanation written with the help of AI. The Bible text above is not changed. Context and interpretation are flagged as such; always come back to the text itself.