Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel(A) and settle there, and build an altar(B) there to God,(C) who appeared to you(D) when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”(E)

So Jacob said to his household(F) and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods(G) you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.(H) Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,(I) who answered me in the day of my distress(J) and who has been with me wherever I have gone.(K) So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,(L) and Jacob buried them under the oak(M) at Shechem.(N) Then they set out, and the terror of God(O) fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.(P)

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz(Q) (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.(R) There he built an altar,(S) and he called the place El Bethel,[a](T) because it was there that God revealed himself to him(U) when he was fleeing from his brother.(V)

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,(W) died and was buried under the oak(X) outside Bethel.(Y) So it was named Allon Bakuth.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:7 El Bethel means God of Bethel.
  2. Genesis 35:8 Allon Bakuth means oak of weeping.

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.”

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. 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.” 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:4 idols
  2. Genesis 35:7 Lit. God of the House of God
  3. Genesis 35:8 Lit. Terebinth of Weeping