The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
1
Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and told him, "Don't marry a Canaanite.
2 But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.
2
Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban's daughters.
3 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of peoples.
3
May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations!
4 And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave to Abraham, may be your heritage.
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May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!"
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
5
Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there, blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
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Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learned that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman.
7 And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;
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He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.
8 It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women of Canaan,
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Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women.
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
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So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.
10 So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.
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Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran.
11 And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went to sleep in that place.
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At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone.
12 And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.
12
He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.
13 And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.
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And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.
14 Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
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They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.
15 And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.
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Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you."
16 And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.
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Jacob woke up and said, "The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!"
17 And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.
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He was afraid and said, "What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven."
18 And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.
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Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God.
19 And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.
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He named the place Bethel. (The town there was once known as Luz.)
20 Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,
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Then Jacob made a vow to the Lord: "If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God,
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and if I return safely to my father's home, then you will be my God.
22 And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.
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This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.