4. 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. 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. Esau learnt that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learnt that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman.
7. He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.
8. Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women.
9. So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.
10. Jacob left Beersheba and started towards Haran.
11. At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone.
12. He dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.
13. 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.