Genesis 35

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments:3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.4 And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.5 And they journeyed: and a terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Beth-el), he and all the people that were with him.7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.8 And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.

9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;12 and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.13 And God went up from him in the place where he spake with him.14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spake with him, a pillar of stone: and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon.15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.

16 And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son.18 And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem).20 And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.22 And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:23 The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun;24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid: Dan and Naphtali;26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid: Gad and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Paddan-aram.27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and fourscore years.29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of days: and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

Genesis 35

Chapter 35

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”
2 So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.

3 We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
4 So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.

5 As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.
6 Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan.

7 Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.

8 Soon after this, Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried beneath the oak tree in the valley below Bethel. Ever since, the tree has been called Allon-bacuth (which means “oak of weeping”).
9 Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him,

10 saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.”t So God renamed him Israel.
11 Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants!12 And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.”

13 Then God went up from the place where he had spoken to Jacob.
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place where God had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over it as an offering to God and anointed the pillar with olive oil.

15 And Jacob named the place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him there.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

16 Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense.17 After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!”18 Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

20 Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.
21 Then Jacobt traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder.

22 While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.
These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:
23 The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.
These are the names of the sons who were born to Jacob at Paddan-aram.
27 So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners.28 Isaac lived for 180 years.

29 Then he breathed his last and died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death. And his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.