Genesis 35:1-15

New King James Version

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(A)Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, ^(B)who appeared to you ^(C)when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² And Jacob said to his ^(D)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(E)the foreign gods that are among you, ^(F)purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, ^(G)who answered me in the day of my distress ^(H)and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign ^[a]gods which were in their hands, and the ^(I)earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under ^(J)the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed, and ^(K)the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to ^(L)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he ^(M)built an altar there and called the place ^[b]El Bethel, because ^(N)there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ Now ^(O)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ^[c]Allon Bachuth.

⁹ Then ^(P)God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and ^(Q)blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(R)your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, ^(S)but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. ¹¹ Also God said to him: ^(T)“I am God Almighty. ^(U)Be fruitful and multiply; ^(V)a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹² The ^(W)land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” ¹³ Then God ^(X)went^[d] up from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob ^(Y)set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, 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 spoke with him, ^(Z)Bethel.