²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those ^(A)who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom ^(B)He foreknew, ^(C)He also predestined ^(D)to be conformed to the image of His Son, ^(E)that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also ^(F)called; whom He called, these He also ^(G)justified; and whom He justified, these He also ^(H)glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(I)If God is for us, who can be against us? ^32 (J)He who did not spare His own Son, but ^(K)delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? ^(L)It is God who justifies. ^34 (M)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, ^(N)who is even at the right hand of God, ^(O)who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

^37 (Q)Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ^(R)principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(A)blessed him, and ^[a]charged him, and said to him: ^(B)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ^2 (C)Arise, go to ^(D)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(E)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(F)Laban your mother’s brother.

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw ^(K)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(L)took ^(M)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(N)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰ Now Jacob ^(O)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(P)Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he ^(Q)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(R)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^13 (S)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(T)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(U)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your ^(V)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(W)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(X)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(Y)I am with you and will ^(Z)keep^[c] you wherever you go, and will ^(AA)bring you back to this land; for ^(AB)I will not leave you ^(AC)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(AD)this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(AE)set it up as a pillar, ^(AF)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of ^(AG)that place ^[d]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ^20 (AH)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(AI)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(AJ)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^(AK)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(AL)then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(AM)shall be God’s house, ^(AN)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[e]tenth to You.”