Genesis 35–36

Jacob Goes Back to Bethel

35And God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from before Esau your brother.” ²Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are in your midst and purify yourselves and change your garments. ³Then let us make ready and let us go up to Bethel, so that I can make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my trouble, and who has been with me on the way that I have gone.” ⁴So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the ornamental rings that were in their ears. And Jacob buried them under the oak which was near Shechem. ⁵Then they set out on their journey, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, so that they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. ⁶And Jacob came to Luz which was in the land of Canaan (that is Bethel), he and all the people that were with him. ⁷And he built an altar there and called the place El-Bethel, for there God had appeared to him when he fled before his brother. ⁸And Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died. And she was buried below Bethel, under the oak. And its name was called Allon-Bacuth.^{a 9}And God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-Aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” Then his name was called Israel. ¹¹And God said to him, “I am El-Shaddai.^b Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assemblage of nations shall be from you, and kings shall go out from your loins. ¹²And as for the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give it to you. And to your descendants after you I will give the land. ¹³And God went up from him at the place where he spoke with him. ¹⁴And Jacob set up a pillar at the place where God had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. And he poured out a drink offering upon it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

The Death of Rachel

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when they were still some distance^c from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor. And she had hard labor. ¹⁷And when her labor was the most difficult^d the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid for you have another son.”^{e 18}And it happened that when her life was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-Oni.^f But his father called him Benjamin.^{g 19}And Rachel died and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰And Jacob erected a pillar at her burial site. That is the pillar of the burial site of Rachel unto this day. ²¹And Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.^{h 22}And while Israel was living in that land Reuben went and had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. And Israel heard about it.

The Twelve Sons of Jacob

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³The sons of Leah: The firstborn of Jacob was Reuben. Then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵The sons of Bilhah, the female slave of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶The sons of Zilpah, the female slave of Leah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-Aram.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷And Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre, or Kiriath-Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac dwelled as aliens. ²⁸Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. ²⁹And Isaac passed away and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The Descendants of Esau

36Now these are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom). ²Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon, the Hittite, and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite, ³and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel; ⁵and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. ⁶And Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the persons of his household, and his sheep and goats, and all his cattle, and all the goods that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷For their possessions were too many to live together,^a so that the land of their sojourning was not able to support them on account of their livestock. ⁸So Esau dwelled in the hill country of Seir (Esau, that is Edom).

⁹Now these are the descendants of Esau, the father of Edom, in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰These are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹²(Now Timnah was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. And she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, the wife of Esau. ¹³Now these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹⁴Now these are the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, the wife of Esau: She bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ¹⁵These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs of Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷Now these are the sons of Reuel, the son of Esau: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹⁸Now these are the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the chiefs born of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the wife of Esau. ¹⁹These are the sons of Esau, and these are their chiefs (that is, Edom). ²⁰These are the sons of Seir, the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²²And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. And Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³Now these are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴Now these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. ²⁵Now these are the sons of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ²⁶Now these are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. ²⁷These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

The Kings of Edom

³¹Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites.^{b 32}Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom. And the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah from Bozrah, reigned in his place. ³⁴And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵And Husham died, and Hadad, son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field^c of Moab reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. ³⁶And Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷And Samlah died, and Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates^d reigned in his place. ³⁸And Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan, the son of Acbor, reigned in his place. ³⁹And Baal-Hanan the son of Acbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Pau, and the name of his wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. ⁴⁰Now these are the names of the chiefs of Esau according to their families, according to their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴²Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom) according to their settlements in the land of their possession.