<h3>JACOB'S DREAM</h3>
<p>Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing which his father had
given him. And Esau said to himself, "My father will soon die;
then I will kill Jacob, my brother."</p>
<p>When the words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah, she
sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother, Esau,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</SPAN></span>
is going to kill you. Now therefore, my son, listen to me: run away
to my brother Laban at Haran and stay with him for a time until
your brother is no longer angry and he forgets what you have done
to him. Then I will send and bring you back. Why should I lose
both of you in one day?"</p>
<p>Then Jacob set out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
And when he arrived at a certain place, he passed the night there,
because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones from its
place and put it under his head and lay down to sleep. Then he
dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached
to heaven; and the angels of God were going up and down on it.</p>
<p>Jehovah also stood beside him and said, "I am Jehovah, the
God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie
I will give to you and to your children. See, I am with you, and
will keep you wherever you go and will bring you again to this land;
for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."</p>
<p>When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, "Surely Jehovah is
in this place, and I did not know it." And he was filled with awe
and said, "This place is the house of God, and this is the gate of
heaven."</p>
<p>So Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he
had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil upon
the top of it. And he named that place Bethel, which means House
of God. Jacob also made this promise, "If God will be with me
and protect me on this journey which I am making and give me
bread to eat and clothing to put on, and if I return safe and sound
to my father's house, then Jehovah shall be my God, and this stone
which I have set up as a pillar shall be a house of God. And of all
that thou shalt give me I will surely give a tenth to thee."</p>
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