35Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to honor me. That’s where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”

²So Jacob spoke to his family and to everyone who was with him. He said, “Get rid of the strange gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure, and change your clothes. ³Come, let’s go up to Bethel. There I’ll build an altar to honor God. He answered me when I was in trouble. He’s been with me everywhere I’ve gone.”

⁴So they gave Jacob all of the strange gods they had. They also gave him their earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree at Shechem.

⁵Then Jacob and everyone who was with him started out. The terror of God fell on the towns all around them. So no one chased them.

⁶Jacob and all of the people who were with him came to Luz. Luz is also called Bethel. It’s in the land of Canaan. ⁷Jacob built an altar at Luz. He named the place El Bethel. There God made himself known to Jacob when he was running away from his brother.

⁸Rebekah’s attendant Deborah died. They buried her body under the oak tree below Bethel. So it was called Allon Bacuth.

⁹After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob anymore. Your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

¹¹God said to him, “I am the Mighty God. Have children and increase your numbers. A nation and a community of nations will come from you. Kings will come from your body. ¹²I am giving you the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give it to your children after you.”

¹³Then God left him at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him. He poured out a drink offering on it. He also poured oil on it. ¹⁵Jacob named the place Bethel. That’s where God had talked with him.

Rachel and Isaac Die

¹⁶They moved on from Bethel. Ephrath wasn’t very far away when Rachel began to have a baby. She was having a very hard time of it.

¹⁷The woman who helped her saw that she was having problems. So she said to her, “Don’t be afraid. You have another son.”

¹⁸But Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

¹⁹So Rachel died. Her body was buried beside the road to Ephrath. Ephrath was also called Bethlehem. ²⁰Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. The pillar marks the place of Rachel’s tomb to this very day.

²¹Israel moved on again. He set up his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

²²While Israel was living in that area, Reuben went in and made love to Bilhah. She was the concubine of Reuben’s father. And Israel heard about it.

Here are the 12 sons Jacob had.

²³Leah was the mother of

Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son.

Her other sons were

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

²⁴The sons of Rachel were

Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s female servant Bilhah were

Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Leah’s female servant Zilpah were

Gad and Asher.

Those were Jacob’s sons. They were born in Paddan Aram.

²⁷Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre. Mamre is near Kiriath Arba, where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. The place is also called Hebron.

²⁸Isaac lived 180 years. ²⁹Then he took his last breath and died. He was very old when he joined the members of his family who had already died. His sons Esau and Jacob buried his body.

The Family Line of Esau

36Here is the story of Esau. Esau was also called Edom.

²Esau got his wives from among the women of Canaan. He married Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. He also married Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite. ³And he married Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.

⁴Adah had Eliphaz by Esau. Basemath had Reuel. ⁵Oholibamah had Jeush, Jalam and Korah. All of them were Esau’s sons. They were born in Canaan.

⁶Esau moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob. He took with him his wives, his sons and daughters, and all of the people who lived with him. He also took his livestock and all of his other animals. He took everything he had gotten in Canaan.

⁷Jacob and Esau owned so much that they couldn’t remain together. There wasn’t enough land for both of them. They had too much livestock. ⁸So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. Esau was also called Edom.

⁹Here is the story of Esau. He’s the father of the people of Edom. They live in the hill country of Seir.

¹⁰Here are the names of Esau’s sons.

They are Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.

¹²Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna. She had Amalek by Eliphaz. They were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

¹³The sons of Reuel were

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. They were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹⁴Esau’s wife Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon. She had Jeush, Jalam and Korah by Esau.

¹⁵Here are the chiefs who were among Esau’s sons.

Eliphaz was Esau’s oldest son. The sons of Eliphaz were

Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶Korah, Gatam and Amalek. They were the chiefs in Edom who were sons of Eliphaz. They were Adah’s grandsons.

¹⁷The sons of Esau’s son Reuel were

Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. They were the chiefs in Edom who were sons of Reuel. They were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

¹⁸The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah were

Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. They were the chiefs who were sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah. She was Anah’s daughter.

¹⁹That was the family line of Esau. And those were the chiefs. Esau was also called Edom.

²⁰Seir the Horite had sons living in the same area.

They were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. The sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.

²²The sons of Lotan were

Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

²³The sons of Shobal were

Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

²⁴The sons of Zibeon were

Aiah and Anah. He was the Anah who discovered the hot springs of water in the desert. He found them while he was taking care of the donkeys that belonged to his father Zibeon.

²⁵The children of Anah were

Dishon and Oholibamah. Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah.

²⁶The sons of Dishon were

Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

²⁷The sons of Ezer were

Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

²⁸The sons of Dishan were

Uz and Aran.

²⁹The Horite chiefs were

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. They were the Horite chiefs in the land of Seir. They are listed tribe by tribe.

The Rulers of Edom

³¹Before Israel had a king, there were kings who ruled in Edom.

³²Bela became the king of Edom. Bela was the son of Beor. Bela’s city was called Dinhabah.

³³When Bela died, Jobab became the next king. Jobab was the son of Zerah from Bozrah.

³⁴When Jobab died, Husham became the next king. Husham was from the land of the Temanites.

³⁵When Husham died, Hadad became the next king. Hadad was the son of Bedad. Hadad had won the battle over Midian in the country of Moab. Hadad’s city was called Avith.

³⁶When Hadad died, Samlah became the next king. Samlah was from Masrekah.

³⁷When Samlah died, Shaul became the next king. Shaul was from Rehoboth on the river.

³⁸When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan became the next king. Baal-Hanan was the son of Acbor.

³⁹When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad became the next king. Hadad’s city was called Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel. She was the daughter of Matred. Matred was the daughter of Me-Zahab.

⁴⁰Here are the chiefs who were in the family line of Esau. They are listed by name as chiefs in charge of their tribes and territories. They are

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴²Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³Magdiel and Iram. They were the chiefs of Edom. They ruled over their settlements in the land where they lived.

That’s the end of the story of Esau. He was the father of the people of Edom.

Read in Logos