Genesis 35:1–14

God Blesses and Renames Jacob

35God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^bBethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you ^cwhen you fled from your brother Esau.” ²So Jacob said to his ^dhousehold and to all who were with him, “Put away ^ethe foreign gods that are among you and ^fpurify yourselves and change your garments. ³Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God ^gwho answers me in the day of my distress and ^hhas been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under ⁱthe terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

⁵And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶And Jacob came to ^jLuz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,¹ because ^kthere God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸And ^lDeborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.²

⁹God appeared³ to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^mno longer shall your name be called Jacob, but ⁿIsrael shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. ¹¹And God said to him, ^o“I am God Almighty:⁴ be ^pfruitful and multiply. ^qA nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.^{5 12r}The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³Then God ^swent up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴And Jacob ^tset up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.