Genesis 28 (NASB2020)

Jacob Is Sent Away
1So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, 28:1 Lit and said tosaying to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May 28:3 Heb El ShaddaiGod Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples. 4May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your 28:4 Lit seeddescendants with you, so that you may possess the land where you live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” 5Then 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.
6Now 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, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 8So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased 28:8 Lit in the eyes of hishis father Isaac; 9and Esau went to Ishmael, and 28:9 Lit took for his wifemarried, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob’s Dream
10Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11And he 28:11 Lit lighted onhappened upon a 28:11 Lit the placeparticular 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. 12And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13Then behold, the Lord was standing 28:13 Or beside himabove it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your 28:13 Lit seeddescendants. 14Your 28:14 Lit seeddescendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will 28:14 Lit break throughspread out to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your 28:14 Lit seeddescendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, 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 28:15 Lit spoken topromised you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” 17And 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!”
18So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took 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. 19Then he named that place 28:19 I.e., the house of GodBethel; but 28:19 Lit at the firstpreviously the name of the city had been Luz. 20Jacob also made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I 28:20 Lit gotake, and give me 28:20 Lit breadfood to eat and garments to wear, 21and I return to my father’s house in 28:21 Lit peacesafety, then the Lord will be my God. 22And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, will be God’s house, and of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”

Understand Genesis 28

Walk through Genesis 28 verse by verse, then read what three commentaries say about the chapter. The explanations are written for new readers.

Read the Genesis 28 commentary