Study Desk

"May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;

And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham."

Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

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!"

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.

And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan. [fn]

And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar. [fn]

And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun. [fn]

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

and said to them, "I see your father's countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, "Jacob.' And I said, "Here I am.'

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family."'

For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children's; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it."