Genesis 28:13

Then Jacob saw God standing near him. And God talked to Jacob. He said, “I am God, my name is Yahweh. I am the one that looked after your grand-father Abraham and your father Isaac. I’m making you a promise about this country where you are sleeping right now. I will give all this country to you and to the people that will be born into your family later on.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

In Context

12While Jacob was asleep, he had a dream. In that dream, he saw lots of steps going up from the earth, and those steps went all the way up into the sky. And Jacob saw lots of God’s angel messengers on those steps. Some of those angel messengers were going up the steps towards the sky, and some of them were going down the steps towards the earth.

14Lots of people will be born into your family, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of little bits of dirt on the ground. And those people in your family, they will spread out a long way, and they will live in lots of different places. Some of them will go west, some of them will go east, some of them will go north, and some of them will go south. And I will use your family to do good things for all the families in the world.

Read all of Genesis 28

Cross References

Genesis 13:15I will give you all the country that you can see. Later on, you will have a son, and lots of people will be born into his family, and they will own all this country, for ever.

Genesis 17:6I will give you a real big family later on, and they will split up into lots of nations. And some of your people will be the big bosses of those nations.

Genesis 26:3I’m telling you to camp here, in this country. You don’t need to worry. I will be with you, to take care of you. I will keep on being good to you. Remember that strong promise that I made to your father Abraham. Now I’m making the same promise to you. I will give you a really big family. You see, lots of kids and grand-kids will be born into your family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of stars in the sky. And I will give them all of this country, and I will use them to do good things for all the nations in the world.

Genesis 28:4And I’m asking him to give all this country to you and the people that will be born into your family later on. Right now, this country doesn’t belong to you. You are just camping here. But one day, your family will take this country for themselves, just like God promised to your grand-father Abraham.”

Genesis 32:9Then Jacob prayed to God, and he called God by his special name Yahweh. He said, “Yahweh, you are the God of my grand-father Abraham and the God of my father Isaac. You said to me, ‘Go back to your home country and your relatives, and I will be good to you.’

Genesis 35:1Then God said to Jacob, “Leave this place, and go to that special place called Bethel. Remember, a long time ago, you ran away from your brother Esau, and you went to that place, and I came to you there. Now I want you to go and live in that place, and I want you to pile up stones there, to make a special table. Then I want you to burn animals on that special table, to show respect to me, because I am God.”

Matthew Henry on Genesis 28:11-16

Jacob's Vision at Bethel. ( b. c. 1760.) 10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 28:13