Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Later, God told Jacob, "Get up, move to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

He built an altar there to God and named the place El Beth-el, because God had revealed himself there when he was fleeing from his brother.

And there was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your descendants the ground on which you're sleeping.


Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."

God spoke to Israel through night visions, addressing him, "Jacob! Jacob!" "Here I am!" Jacob replied. "I'm God, your father's God. Don't be afraid to move down to Egypt, because I'm going to turn you into a mighty nation there. I'm going down with you to Egypt, and I'm certainly going to bring you back again. And Joseph himself will be with you when you die."


Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."



Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."


Then God said, "I certainly will be with you. And this will be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve God on this mountain."


Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."


Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."

"Two nations are in your womb," the LORD responded, "and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger."

May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine. May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed."

Meanwhile, Jacob had left Beer-sheba and was on his way to Haran. He reached a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun was setting. He found a stone there, used it for a pillow, and slept there for the night, when he had a dream! He saw a raised highway that had been built with its ending point on earth and its beginning point in heaven. God's angels were ascending and descending on it. read more.
And there was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your descendants the ground on which you're sleeping. Your descendants are going to become like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. Now pay attention! I'm here with you, and I'm going to be watching over you wherever you go. I'm going to bring you back to this land, because I won't ever leave you until I've accomplished what I've promised about you."

God appeared again to Jacob after he had arrived from Paddan-aram and blessed him. Then God told him, "Your name is Jacob. No longer are you to be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel." So God called his name Israel and also told him, "I am God Almighty. You are to be fruitful and multiply. You will become a nation in fact, an assembly of nations! Kings will come from you they'll emerge from your own loins! read more.
Now as for the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I'm giving it to you and to your descendants who come after you. I'm giving the land to you!" After this, God ascended from the place where he had been speaking to him.

"I'm God, your father's God. Don't be afraid to move down to Egypt, because I'm going to turn you into a mighty nation there.

Look! I've given you the land that lies ahead. Go in and possess the land that I, the LORD, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants.'"

He presented it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. He said: "I will give Canaan to you as the allotted portion that is your inheritance."


Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches. Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink. When the flocks mated in front of the branches, they would bear offspring that were striped, speckled, or spotted. read more.
Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock. Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches. But he didn't put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob. Therefore the man Jacob prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.

Now Jacob used to listen while Laban's sons kept on complaining, "Jacob has taken over everything our father owns! He made himself wealthy from what belongs to our father!" Jacob also noticed that the way Laban had been looking at him wasn't as nice as it had been just two days earlier. Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you." read more.
Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field where his flock was and informed them, "I've noticed that the way your father has been looking at us hasn't been as nice as it was just two days ago. But my father's God has been with me. You know I've been serving your father with all my heart. Even so, your father has cheated me. He broke our wage agreement ten times. However, God didn't allow him to harm me. "When Laban said, "The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flock gave birth to speckled ones. Then when he said, "The streaked ones will be your wages,' all the flock gave birth to streaked offspring. "So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me. As it was, when it was time for the livestock to breed, I once looked up in a dream, and the male goats that were mating with the flock were producing streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring. "Later, the angel of God spoke to me in a dream, "Jacob.' ""Here I am,' I replied ""Look around!' he said. "Go ahead, look! All the male goats have been mating with the flock, producing offspring that are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I've been watching everything that Laban has done to you. I am the God of Bethel, the place where you consecrated that stone and made a vow to me. Now get up, leave this territory, and return to your native land.'" Then Rachel and Leah asked him, "Do we have anything left of inheritance remaining in our father's house? He's treating us like foreigners. He sold us and spent all of the money that rightfully belonged to us. Furthermore, all of the wealth that God has stripped away from our father belongs to us now and to our children. So do everything that God tells you to do." So Jacob got up, seated his children and wives on camels, and drove all his livestock ahead of him, with everything that belonged to him, including the livestock that he had bought and accumulated in Paddan-aram, intending to deliver them to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Meanwhile, Laban had been out shearing his sheep. While he was away, Rachel stole her father's personal idols. Moreover, Jacob had deceived Laban the Aramean, because he had never told him that he was intending to leave. Jacob fled, taking everything that he owned. He got up, crossed the river, and headed to the hill country of Gilead.



Then the LORD ordered Jacob, "Go back to your father's territory and to your relatives. I'll be with you."


Then God said, "I certainly will be with you. And this will be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve God on this mountain."