1 ^mNow the Lord said¹ to Abram, ⁿ“Go ^ofrom your country² and your kindred and your father’s house to ^pthe land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a ^qgreat nation, and I will ^rbless you and ^smake your name great, so that ^tyou will be a blessing. 3 ^uI will bless those who bless you, and ^vhim who dishonors you I will curse, and ^win you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”³

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was ^xseventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the ^yoak⁴ of Moreh. ^zAt that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord ^aappeared to Abram and said, ^b“To your offspring I will give this land.” So he ^cbuilt there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and ^dcalled upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

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.”