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12 Then he had a dream: a stairway[a] rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God’s angels were going up and down on it.(A) 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him and saying: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants.(B) 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and through them you will spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south. In you and your descendants all the families of the earth will find blessing.(C) 15 I am with you and will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 28:12 Stairway: in Hebrew, sullam, traditionally but inaccurately translated as “ladder.” The corresponding verb, salal, means “to heap up” something, such as dirt for a highway or a ramp. The imagery in Jacob’s dream may be derived from the Babylonian ziggurat or temple tower, “with its top in the sky” (11:4), and with brick steps leading up to a small temple at the top.

12 He had a dream(A) in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.(B) 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord,(C) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.(D) I will give you and your descendants the land(E) on which you are lying.(F) 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you(G) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.(H) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b](I) 15 I am with you(J) and will watch over you(K) wherever you go,(L) and I will bring you back to this land.(M) I will not leave you(N) until I have done what I have promised you.(O)(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
  2. Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

Thus Jacob and all the people who were with him arrived in Luz (now Bethel) in the land of Canaan.(A)

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Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz(A) (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.(B)

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