Jacob Moves to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother.”^{(A) 2} Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the [idols and images of] foreign gods that are among you, and ceremonially purify yourselves and change [into fresh] clothes; ³ then let us get up and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the [idols and images of the] foreign gods they had and the rings which were in their ears [worn as charms against evil], and Jacob buried them under the ^[a]oak tree near Shechem.

⁵ As they journeyed, there was a great [supernatural] terror [sent from God] on the cities around them, and [for that reason] the Canaanites 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 who were with him. ⁷ There he built an altar [to worship the Lord], and called the place El-bethel (God of the House of God), because there God had revealed Himself to him when he escaped from his brother. ⁸ Now Deborah, [who once was] Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth (Oak of Weeping).

Jacob Is Named Israel

⁹ Then God [in a visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan-aram, and declared a blessing on him.^{(B) 10} Again God said to him,

So he was called ^[b]Israel. ¹¹ And God said to him,

¹³ Then God ascended from Jacob in the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar (memorial, monument) in the place where he had talked with God, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering [of wine] on it; he also poured oil on it [to declare it sacred for God’s purpose]. ¹⁵ So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (the House of God).

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Rachel began to give birth and had difficulty and suffered severely. ¹⁷ When she was in hard labor the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; you now have another son.” ¹⁸ And as her soul was departing, (for she died), she named him Ben-oni (son of my sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin (^[e]son of the right hand). ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set a pillar (memorial, monument) on her grave; that is the ^[f]pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. ²¹ Then Israel (Jacob) journeyed on and pitched his tent on the other side of the tower of Eder [the lookout point used by shepherds].

²² While Israel was living in that land, Reuben [his eldest son] went and lay with Bilhah his father’s ^[g]concubine, and Israel heard about it.

The Sons of Israel

Now Jacob had twelve sons— ²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ²⁴ and the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ and 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 Paddan-aram.

²⁷ Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had lived temporarily.

²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ Isaac’s spirit departed and he died and was ^[h]gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death], an old man full of days (satisfied, fulfilled); his sons Esau and Jacob buried him [in the cave of Machpelah with his parents Abraham and Sarah].