Bible Verses About Jacob

He came to a certain place and stayed the night there, because the sun had set. He took a stone from the place, put it under his head and lay down there to sleep.

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.

Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.

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 got up early in the morning, took the stone he had put under his head, set it up as a standing-stone, poured olive oil on its top

and named the place Beit-El [house of God]; but the town had originally been called Luz.

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."

Lavan said to him, "Why should you work for me for nothing, just because you are my relative? Tell me how much I should pay you."

Now Lavan had two daughters; the name of the older was Le'ah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

Le'ah's eyes were weak; but Rachel was good-looking, with beautiful features.

Ya'akov had fallen in love with Rachel and said, "I will work for you seven years in exchange for Rachel your younger daughter."

Lavan answered, "Better that I give her to you than to someone else; stay with me."

So Ya'akov worked seven years for Rachel, and it seemed only a few days to him, because he was so much in love with her.

Ya'akov said to Lavan, "Give me my wife, since my time is finished, so that I can start living with her."

Lavan gathered all the men of the place and gave a banquet.

In the evening he took Le'ah his daughter and brought her to Ya'akov, and he went in and slept with her.

Lavan also gave his slave-girl Zilpah to his daughter Le'ah as her slave-girl.

In the morning Ya'akov saw that he was with Le'ah, and he said to Lavan, "What kind of thing is this that you've done to me? Didn't I work for you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?"

Lavan answered, "In our place that isn't how it's done, to give the younger daughter before the firstborn.

Finish the marriage week of this one, and we'll give you the other one also in exchange for the work you will do for me during yet another seven years."