Genesis 28-35

New Living Translation

28 So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women. ² Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. ³ May God Almighty^[a] bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations! ⁴ May God pass on to you and your descendants^[b] the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.

⁶ Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” ⁷ He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. ⁹ So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. ¹² As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

¹³ At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. ¹⁵ What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” ¹⁷ But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”

¹⁸ The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.

²⁰ Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, ²¹ and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. ²² And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Jacob Arrives at Paddan-Aram

29 Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. ² He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.

³ It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well. ⁴ Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?”

“We are from Haran,” they answered.

⁵ “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked.

“Yes, we do,” they replied.

⁶ “Is he doing well?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, he’s well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”

⁷ Jacob said, “Look, it’s still broad daylight—too early to round up the animals. Why don’t you water the sheep and goats so they can get back out to pasture?”

⁸ “We can’t water the animals until all the flocks have arrived,” they replied. “Then the shepherds move the stone from the mouth of the well, and we water all the sheep and goats.”

⁹ Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherd. ¹⁰ And because Rachel was his cousin—the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother—and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Laban, Jacob went over to the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle’s flock. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. ¹² He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him and brought him home. When Jacob had told him his story, ¹⁴ Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!”

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, ¹⁵ Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”

¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. ¹⁷ There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes,^[c] but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. ¹⁸ Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”

¹⁹ “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

²¹ Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”

²² So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. ²³ But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. ²⁴ (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)

²⁵ But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”

²⁶ “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. ²⁷ “But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”

²⁸ So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. ²⁹ (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) ³⁰ So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.

Jacob’s Many Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. ³² So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,^[d] for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”

³³ She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon,^[e] for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”

³⁴ Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi,^[f] for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”

³⁵ Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah,^[g] for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.

30 When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

² Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”

³ Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me,^[h] and through her I can have a family, too.” ⁴ So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. ⁶ Rachel named him Dan,^[i] for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” ⁷ Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. ⁸ Rachel named him Naphtali,^[j] for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

⁹ Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. ¹¹ Leah named him Gad,^[k] for she said, “How fortunate I am!” ¹² Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah named him Asher,^[l] for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

¹⁴ One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”

Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”

¹⁶ So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah. ¹⁷ And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ She named him Issachar,^[m] for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹⁹ Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ She named him Zebulun,^[n] for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.” ²¹ Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. ²⁴ And she named him Joseph,^[o] for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”

Jacob’s Wealth Increases

²⁵ Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country. ²⁶ Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”

²⁷ “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for^[p] the Lord has blessed me because of you. ²⁸ Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”

²⁹ Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. ³⁰ You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”

³¹ “What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.

Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks. ³² Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. ³³ In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”

³⁴ “All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.” ³⁵ But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons, ³⁶ who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. ³⁸ Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. ³⁹ And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.

⁴¹ Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches. ⁴² But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. ⁴³ As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.

Jacob Flees from Laban

31 But Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him. “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said. “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.” ² And Jacob began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the field where he was watching his flock. ⁵ He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know how hard I have worked for your father, ⁷ but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm. ⁸ For if he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young. ⁹ In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.

¹⁰ “One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted. ¹¹ Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’

¹² “The angel said, ‘Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. For I have seen how Laban has treated you. ¹³ I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel,^[q] the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth.’”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah responded, “That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway. ¹⁵ He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he wasted the money you paid him for us. ¹⁶ All the wealth God has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷ So Jacob put his wives and children on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove all his livestock in front of him. He packed all the belongings he had acquired in Paddan-aram and set out for the land of Canaan, where his father, Isaac, lived. ¹⁹ At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her. ²⁰ Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out secretly and never told Laban they were leaving. ²¹ So Jacob took all his possessions with him and crossed the Euphrates River,^[r] heading for the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²² Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ So he gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Jacob seven days later in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ But the previous night God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you—leave Jacob alone!”

²⁵ Laban caught up with Jacob as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead, and he set up his camp not far from Jacob’s. ²⁶ “What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war? ²⁷ Why did you slip away secretly? Why did you deceive me? And why didn’t you say you wanted to leave? I would have given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps. ²⁸ Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren and tell them good-bye? You have acted very foolishly! ²⁹ I could destroy you, but the God of your father appeared to me last night and warned me, ‘Leave Jacob alone!’ ³⁰ I can understand your feeling that you must go, and your intense longing for your father’s home. But why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹ “I rushed away because I was afraid,” Jacob answered. “I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. ³² But as for your gods, see if you can find them, and let the person who has taken them die! And if you find anything else that belongs to you, identify it before all these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!” But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.

³³ Laban went first into Jacob’s tent to search there, then into Leah’s, and then the tents of the two servant wives—but he found nothing. Finally, he went into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ But Rachel had taken the household idols and hidden them in her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on them. When Laban had thoroughly searched her tent without finding them, ³⁵ she said to her father, “Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you. I’m having my monthly period.” So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became very angry, and he challenged Laban. “What’s my crime?” he demanded. “What have I done wrong to make you chase after me as though I were a criminal? ³⁷ You have rummaged through everything I own. Now show me what you found that belongs to you! Set it out here in front of us, before our relatives, for all to see. Let them judge between us!

³⁸ “For twenty years I have been with you, caring for your flocks. In all that time your sheep and goats never miscarried. In all those years I never used a single ram of yours for food. ³⁹ If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, I never showed you the carcass and asked you to reduce the count of your flock. No, I took the loss myself! You made me pay for every stolen animal, whether it was taken in broad daylight or in the dark of night.

⁴⁰ “I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through cold and sleepless nights. ⁴¹ Yes, for twenty years I slaved in your house! I worked for fourteen years earning your two daughters, and then six more years for your flock. And you changed my wages ten times! ⁴² In fact, if the God of my father had not been on my side—the God of Abraham and the fearsome God of Isaac^[s]—you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen your abuse and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and rebuked you!”

Jacob’s Treaty with Laban

⁴³ Then Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks—in fact, everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and their children? ⁴⁴ So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. ⁴⁶ Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.” So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal. ⁴⁷ To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha (which means “witness pile” in Aramaic), and Jacob called it Galeed (which means “witness pile” in Hebrew).

⁴⁸ Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.” This explains why it was called Galeed—“Witness Pile.” ⁴⁹ But it was also called Mizpah (which means “watchtower”), for Laban said, “May the Lord keep watch between us to make sure that we keep this covenant when we are out of each other’s sight. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you marry other wives, God will see it even if no one else does. He is a witness to this covenant between us.

⁵¹ “See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. ⁵² They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. ⁵³ I call on the God of our ancestors—the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor—to serve as a judge between us.”

So Jacob took an oath before the fearsome God of his father, Isaac,^[t] to respect the boundary line. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered a sacrifice to God there on the mountain and invited everyone to a covenant feast. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

^55 [u]Laban got up early the next morning, and he kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

32 ^[v]As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. ² When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim.^[w]

Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau

³ Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. ⁴ He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban, ⁵ and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’”

⁶ After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” ⁷ Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O Lord, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! ¹¹ O Lord, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. ¹² But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”

¹³ Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: ¹⁴ 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, ¹⁵ 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. ¹⁶ He divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the herds.”

¹⁷ He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’ ¹⁸ You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’”

¹⁹ Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’”

Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” ²¹ So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

²² During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. ²³ After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.

²⁴ This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. ²⁵ When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ “What is your name?” the man asked.

He replied, “Jacob.”

²⁸ “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,^[x] because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

²⁹ “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.

“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰ Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” ³¹ The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel,^[y] and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. ³² (Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)

Jacob and Esau Make Peace

33 Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with his 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and his two servant wives. ² He put the servant wives and their children at the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ Then Jacob went on ahead. As he approached his brother, he bowed to the ground seven times before him. ⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

⁵ Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, “Who are these people with you?”

“These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant,” Jacob replied. ⁶ Then the servant wives came forward with their children and bowed before him. ⁷ Next came Leah with her children, and they bowed before him. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed before him.

⁸ “And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?” Esau asked.

Jacob replied, “They are a gift, my lord, to ensure your friendship.”

⁹ “My brother, I have plenty,” Esau answered. “Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ But Jacob insisted, “No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God! ¹¹ Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift.

¹² “Well,” Esau said, “let’s be going. I will lead the way.”

¹³ But Jacob replied, “You can see, my lord, that some of the children are very young, and the flocks and herds have their young, too. If they are driven too hard, even for one day, all the animals could die. ¹⁴ Please, my lord, go ahead of your servant. We will follow slowly, at a pace that is comfortable for the livestock and the children. I will meet you at Seir.”

¹⁵ “All right,” Esau said, “but at least let me assign some of my men to guide and protect you.”

Jacob responded, “That’s not necessary. It’s enough that you’ve received me warmly, my lord!”

¹⁶ So Esau turned around and started back to Seir that same day. ¹⁷ Jacob, on the other hand, traveled on to Succoth. There he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was named Succoth (which means “shelters”).

¹⁸ Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. ¹⁹ Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver.^{[z] 20} And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel.^[aa]

Revenge against Shechem

34 One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. ² But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her. ³ But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words. ⁴ He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her.”

⁵ Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned. ⁶ Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob. ⁷ Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,^[ab] something that should never be done.

⁸ Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her. ⁹ In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. ¹⁰ And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”

¹¹ Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask. ¹² No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”

¹³ But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! ¹⁵ But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are, ¹⁶ then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”

¹⁸ Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal. ¹⁹ Shechem wasted no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family, ²⁰ and he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.

²¹ “These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. ²² But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. ²³ But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”

²⁴ So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised. ²⁵ But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there, ²⁶ including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.

²⁷ Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there. ²⁸ They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. ²⁹ They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

³⁰ Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land—among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”

³¹ “But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”

² So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. ³ We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

⁴ So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem. ⁵ As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.

⁶ Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. ⁷ Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.

⁸ Soon after this, Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried beneath the oak tree in the valley below Bethel. Ever since, the tree has been called Allon-bacuth (which means “oak of weeping”).

⁹ Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him, ¹⁰ saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.”^[ac] So God renamed him Israel.

¹¹ Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! ¹² And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from the place where he had spoken to Jacob.

¹⁴ Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place where God had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over it as an offering to God and anointed the pillar with olive oil. ¹⁵ And Jacob named the place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him there.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

¹⁶ Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense. ¹⁷ After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!” ¹⁸ Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”). ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.

²¹ Then Jacob^[ad] traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder. ²² While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.

These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:

²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These are the names of the sons who were born to Jacob at Paddan-aram.

²⁷ So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners. ²⁸ Isaac lived for 180 years. ²⁹ Then he breathed his last and died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death. And his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.