New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.
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So Isaac called in Jacob and blessed him. Then he ordered him, "Don't take a Caananite wife.
2 Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.
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Leave at once. Go to Paddan Aram to the family of your mother's father, Bethuel. Get a wife for yourself from the daughters of your uncle Laban.
3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.
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"And may The Strong God bless you and give you many, many children, a congregation of peoples;
4 May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham."
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and pass on the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants so that you will get this land in which you live, this land God gave Abraham."
5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
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So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,"
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Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to get a wife there, and while blessing him commanded, "Don't marry a Canaanite woman,"
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
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and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram.
8 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac,
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When Esau realized how deeply his father Isaac disliked the Canaanite women,
9 Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
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he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son. This was in addition to the wives he already had.
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
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Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran.
11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.
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He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
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And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;
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Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants.
14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.
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Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants.
15 Know that 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 promised you."
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Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."
16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!"
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Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "God is in this place - truly. And I didn't even know it!"
17 And 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."
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He was terrified. He whispered in awe, "Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of Heaven."
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
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Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it.
19 He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
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He christened the place Bethel (God's House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.
20 Then Jacob made 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 clothing to wear,
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Jacob vowed a vow: "If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I'm setting out, keeps me in food and clothing,
21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,
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and brings me back in one piece to my father's house, this God will be my God.
22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you."
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This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I'll return a tenth to you."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.