¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁵ if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.^(A)

⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Reverence, Humility, and Contentment

5 ^[a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools, for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.^[b](A)

⁶ He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.^(A)

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”^{(A) 2} So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes;^{(B) 3} then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”^{(C) 4} So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.^(D)

⁵ As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them.^{(E) 6} Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,^{(F) 7} and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[a] because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.^{(G) 8} And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.^[b](H)

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him.^{(I) 10} God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel.^{(J) 11} God said to him, “I am God Almighty:^[c] be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.^{(K) 12} The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”^{(L) 13} Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.^(M)

¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.^(A)

²² And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”^(A)

²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”^(A)