Into Mesopotamia, By Reason Of The
Fear He Was In Of His Brother.

1. Now Jacob was sent by his mother to Mesopotamia, in order to marry
Laban her brother's daughter [which marriage was permitted by Isaac,
on account of his obsequiousness to the desires of his wife]; and he
accordingly journeyed through the land of Canaan; and because he hated
the people of that country, he would not lodge with any of them, but
took up his lodging in the open air, and laid his head on a heap of
stones that he had gathered together. At which time he saw in his sleep
such a vision standing by him:--he seemed to see a ladder that reached
from the earth unto heaven, and persons descending upon the ladder that
seemed more excellent than human; and at last God himself stood above
it, and was plainly visible to him, who, calling him by his name, spake
to him in these words:--

2. "O Jacob, it is not fit for thee, who art the son of a good father,
and grandson of one who had obtained a great reputation for his eminent
virtue, to be dejected at thy present circumstances, but to hope for
better times, for thou shalt have great abundance of all good things, by
my assistance: for I brought Abraham hither, out of Mesopotamia, when he
was driven away by his kinsmen, and I made thy father a happy man,
nor will I bestow a lesser degree of happiness on thyself: be of good
courage, therefore, and under my conduct proceed on this thy journey,
for the marriage thou goest so zealously about shall be consummated. And
thou shalt have children of good characters, but their multitude shall
be innumerable; and they shall leave what they have to a still more
numerous posterity, to whom, and to whose posterity, I give the dominion
of all the land, and their posterity shall fill the entire earth and
sea, so far as the sun beholds them: but do not thou fear any danger,
nor be afraid of the many labors thou must undergo, for by my providence
I will direct thee what thou art to do in the time present, and still
much more in the time to come."

3. Such were the predictions which God made to Jacob; whereupon he
became very joyful at what he had seen and heard; and he poured oil on
the stones, because on them the prediction of such great benefits was
made. He also vowed a vow, that he would offer sacrifices upon them, if
he lived and returned safe; and if he came again in such a condition,
he would give the tithe of what he had gotten to God. He also judged
the plac