Jacob Moves to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to (A)Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to (B)God, who appeared to you (C)when you fled [a]from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his (D)household and to all who were with him, “Remove (E)the foreign gods which are among you, and (F)purify yourselves and change your garments; and let’s arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make (G)an altar there to God, (H)who answered me on the day of my distress and (I)has been with me [b]wherever I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which [c]they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the [d]oak which was near Shechem.

As they journeyed, there was [e](J)a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to (K)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. Then (L)he built an altar there, and called the place [f]El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled [g]from his brother. Now (M)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and it was named [h]Allon-bacuth.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:1 Lit from the face of
  2. Genesis 35:3 Lit in the way which
  3. Genesis 35:4 Lit were in their hand
  4. Genesis 35:4 Or terebinth
  5. Genesis 35:5 Or a terror of God
  6. Genesis 35:7 I.e., the God of Bethel
  7. Genesis 35:7 Lit from the face of
  8. Genesis 35:8 I.e., oak of weeping

Jacob establishes worship at Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Get up, go to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you ran away from your brother Esau.”

Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you. Clean yourselves and change your clothes. Then let’s rise and go up to Bethel so that I can build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.” So they gave Jacob all of the foreign gods they had, as well as the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the terebinth at Shechem. When they set out, God made all of the surrounding cities fearful so that they didn’t pursue Jacob’s sons. Jacob and all of the people with him arrived in Luz, otherwise known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan. He built an altar there and named the place El-bethel,[a] because God had revealed himself to him there when he ran away from his brother. Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried at Bethel under the oak, and Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:7 Or God of Bethel
  2. Genesis 35:8 Or oak of weeping