Jacob’s Dream

10 ^xJacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, ^ybecause the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he ^zdreamed, and behold, there was a ladder¹ set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^athe angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, ^bthe Lord stood above it² and said, ^c“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ^dThe land on which you lie I will give to you and ^eto your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the ^fdust of the earth, and you shall ^gspread abroad ^hto the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and ⁱin you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, ^jI am with you and will ^kkeep you wherever you go, and ^lwill bring you back to this land. For I will not ^mleave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not 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.”

18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and ⁿset it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 ^oHe called the name of that place Bethel,³ but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob ^pmade 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, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then ^qthe Lord shall 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 ^rgive a full ^stenth to you.”

11 Then ^pthe angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the ^qGod of Bethel, ^rwhere you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

Joseph’s Dreams

1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

2 These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel ^vloved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe ^wof many colors.¹ 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^xhated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

5 Now Joseph had a ^ydream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^zbowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were ^ajealous of him, but his father ^bkept the saying in mind.