Isaac
and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was fond of hunting, but Jacob
stayed at home.
Now
Esau hated Jacob, and thought of killing him as soon as Isaac their father
died.
When
Rebekah was told of it she said to Jacob, “Go now to Haran to my brother Laban,
and stay there till your brother’s anger has passed away.”
So
Jacob obeyed his mother and went on his journey, and in the evening he lay down
to sleep, and he took a stone for his pillow.
As
he slept, he dreamed that a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it
reached to heaven, and angels of God went up and down upon it.
And
God stood above it and said, “The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed; and in thee and in they seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed.”
Then
Jacob awoke, and was afraid. And he took the stone that he had made his pillow
and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel,
which means the house of God.
Gen. 28: 1-22