Study Desk

May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!

May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham."

As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

At the top of the stairway stood the Lord , and he said, "I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.

But he was also afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!"

He named that place Bethel (which means "house of God"), although it was previously called Luz.

Then Jacob made this vow: "If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing,

and if I return safely to my father's home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.

And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me."

Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. "Am I God?" he asked. "He's the one who has kept you from having children!"

Rachel named him Dan, for she said, "God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son."

And God answered Leah's prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

She named him Issachar, for she said, "God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife."

She named him Zebulun, for she said, "God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons."

Then God remembered Rachel's plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. "God has removed my disgrace," she said.

He said to them, "I have noticed that your father's attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me.

but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm.

In this way, God has taken your father's animals and given them to me.

Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!' And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.'