Genesis 35

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel^o and settle there, and build an altar^p there to God,^q who appeared to you^r when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”^s

²So Jacob said to his household^t and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods^u you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.^{v 3}Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,^w who answered me in the day of my distress^x and who has been with me wherever I have gone.^y” ⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,^z and Jacob buried them under the oak^a at Shechem.^{b 5}Then they set out, and the terror of God^c fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.^d

⁶Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz^e (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.^{f 7}There he built an altar,^g and he called the place El Bethel,^ah because it was there that God revealed himself to himⁱ when he was fleeing from his brother.^j

⁸Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,^k died and was buried under the oak^l outside Bethel.^m So it was named Allon Bakuth.^b

⁹After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,^cn God appeared to him again and blessed him.^{o 10}God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,^d but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.^e”^p So he named him Israel.

¹¹And God said to him, “I am God Almighty^f;^q be fruitful and increase in number.^r A nation^s and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.^{t 12}The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.^u”^{v 13}Then God went up from him^w at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a stone pillar^x at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering^y on it; he also poured oil on it.^{z 15}Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.^ga

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

35:23–26pp—1Ch 2:1–2

¹⁶Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,^b Rachel^c began to give birth and had great difficulty. ¹⁷And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife^d said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”^{e 18}As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.^hf But his father named him Benjamin.^ig

¹⁹So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath^h (that is, Bethlehemⁱ). ²⁰Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day^j that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.^k

²¹Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.^{l 22}While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine^m Bilhah,ⁿ and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

²³The sons of Leah:^o

Reuben the firstborn^p of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah,^q Issachar and Zebulun.^r

²⁴The sons of Rachel:

Joseph^s and Benjamin.^t

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:^u

Dan and Naphtali.^v

²⁶The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:^w

Gad^x and Asher.^y

These were the sons of Jacob,^z who were born to him in Paddan Aram.^a

²⁷Jacob came home to his father Isaac^b in Mamre,^c near Kiriath Arba^d (that is, Hebron),^e where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.^{f 28}Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.^{g 29}Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people,^h old and full of years.ⁱ And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.^j