God

Yitz'chak said to his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "ADONAI your God made it happen that way."

He approached and kissed him. Yitz'chak smelled his clothes and blessed Ya'akov with these words: "See, my son smells like a field which ADONAI has blessed.

So may God give you dew from heaven, the richness of the earth, and grain and wine in abundance.

May El Shaddai bless you, make you fruitful and increase your descendants, until they become a whole assembly of peoples.

And may he give you the blessing which he gave Avraham, you and your descendants with you, so that you will possess the land you will travel through, the land God gave to Avraham."

He dreamt that there before him was a ladder resting on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of ADONAI were going up and down on it.

Then suddenly ADONAI was standing there next to him; and he said, "I am ADONAI, the God of Avraham your [grand]father and the God of Yitz'chak. The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your descendants.

Look, I am with you. I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back into this land, because I won't leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Ya'akov awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly, ADONAI is in this place - and I didn't know it!"

Then he became afraid and said, "This place is fearsome! This has to be the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"

Ya'akov took this vow: "If God will be with me and will guard me on this road that I am traveling, giving me bread to eat and clothes to wear,

so that I return to my father's house in peace, then ADONAI will be my God;

and this stone, which I have set up as a standing-stone, will be God's house; and of everything you give me, I will faithfully return one-tenth to you."

ADONAI saw that Le'ah was unloved, so he made her fertile, while Rachel remained childless.

Le'ah conceived and gave birth to a son, whom she named Re'uven [see, a son!], for she said, "It is because ADONAI has seen how humiliated I have been, but now my husband will love me."

She conceived again, gave birth to a son and said, "It is because ADONAI has heard that I am unloved; therefore he has given me this son also." So she named him Shim'on [hearing].

She conceived yet again, had a son and said, "This time I will praise ADONAI"; therefore she named him Y'hudah [praise]. Then she stopped having children.

This made Ya'akov angry at Rachel; he answered, "Am I in God's place? He's the one who is denying you children."

Rachel said, "God has judged in my favor; indeed he has heard me and given me a son." Therefore she called him Dan [he judged].

God listened to Le'ah, and she conceived and bore Ya'akov a fifth son.

Le'ah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my slave-girl to my husband." So she called him Yissakhar [hire, reward].

Le'ah said, "God has given me a wonderful gift. Now at last my husband will live with me, since I have borne him six sons."And she called him Z'vulun [living together].

Then God took note of Rachel, heeded her prayer and made her fertile.

She conceived, had a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace."

She called him Yosef [may he add], saying, "May ADONAI add to me another son."