35 And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. And make there an altar to God Who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled from the presence of Esau your brother.^(A)

² Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, Put away the [images of] strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves and change [into fresh] garments;

³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to God Who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me wherever I went.

⁴ So they [both young men and women] gave to Jacob all the strange gods they had and their earrings which were [worn as charms against evil] in their ears; and Jacob buried and hid them under the oak near Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed and a terror from God fell on the towns round about them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

⁶ So Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him.

⁷ There he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel [God of Bethel], for there God revealed Himself to him when he fled from the presence of his brother.

⁸ But Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under an oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth [oak of weeping].

⁹ And God [in a distinctly visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Padan-aram, and declared a blessing on him.^(B)

¹⁰ Again God said to him, Your name is Jacob [supplanter]; you shall not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel shall be your name. So He called him Israel [contender with God].

¹¹ And God said to him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall be born of your stock;

¹² The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.

¹³ Then God ascended from him in the place where He talked with him.

¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar (monument) in the place where he talked with [God], a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it and he poured oil on it.

¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God had talked with him Bethel [house of God].

¹⁶ And they journeyed from Bethel and had but a little way to go to Ephrath [Bethlehem] when Rachel suffered the pangs of childbirth and had hard labor.

¹⁷ When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid; you shall have this son also.

¹⁸ And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand].

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.

²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar (monument) on her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

²¹ Then Israel journeyed on and spread his tent on the other side of the tower of Edar.

²² When Israel dwelt there, Reuben [his eldest son] went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now Jacob’s sons were twelve.

²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob born to him in Padan-aram.

²⁷ And Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre or Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.

²⁹ And Isaac’s spirit departed; he died and was gathered to his people, being an old man, satisfied and satiated with days; his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.