² Jacob told his household and those with him to get ready to move.

⁴ So they handed over to Jacob all of the foreign gods they had, as well as the rings in their ears. Jacob buried them in the shadow of a mighty oak that was near Shechem.

⁵ As they traveled, God struck terror into the hearts of all of the cities along the way so that no one pursued Jacob’s family. ⁶ Jacob, and all those who were with him, arrived in Luz (which is also known as Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ There he built an altar and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob when he was running away from his brother. ⁸ Along the way, Deborah (Rebekah’s nurse) died, and they buried her under the branches of a stately oak below Bethel. Since that day, it has been known as Allon-bacuth, which means “oak of weeping.”

⁹ Now that Jacob had come back from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel and blessed him.

From then on, God addressed him by his new name: Israel.

¹³ Then God ascended from the place where He had spoken with Jacob. ¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar of stone in that same spot. He poured wine on it as an offering to God and doused it with oil. ¹⁵ Jacob named this place where God had spoken with him “Bethel.”

¹⁶ After that, they all traveled on from Bethel. While still a long way from Ephrath, Rachel began having labor pains, and it was a hard labor. ¹⁷ And when the labor pains were most intense, the midwife tried to comfort her.

¹⁸ But as her life slipped away, just before she died, Rachel named her son Ben-oni, but his father decided to call him Benjamin instead. ¹⁹ So Rachel died, and they buried her on the way to Ephrath (which is also known as Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a pillar to mark Rachel’s tomb, and the pillar at her tomb still stands to this day.

²¹ Israel then continued on the journey, and he pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²² During the time Israel lived in this land, Reuben slept with his father’s concubine, Bilhah, and Israel found out about it.

²³ Now Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons. Leah’s six sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ Rachel’s two sons were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, had two sons: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ Leah’s servant, Zilpah, had two sons: Gad and Asher. These were the sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram and on the journey home.

²⁷ Jacob finally arrived at his father Isaac’s house at Mamre not far from Kiriath-arba (which is also known as Hebron). This is where Abraham and Isaac had resided as foreigners.

²⁸ Isaac lived 180 years. ²⁹ By the time he took his last breath and joined his ancestors in death, he had reached a ripe old age and lived a full life. His sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.