Genesis 35:1–14

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^aBethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, ^bwho appeared to you ^cwhen you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

²And Jacob said to his ^dhousehold and to all who were with him, “Put away ^ethe foreign gods that are among you, ^fpurify yourselves, and change your garments. ³Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, ^gwho answered me in the day of my distress ^hand has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign ¹gods which were in their hands, and the ⁱearrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under ^jthe terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵And they journeyed, and ^kthe terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶So Jacob came to ^lLuz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷And he ^mbuilt an altar there and called the place ²El Bethel, because ⁿthere God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸Now ^oDeborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ³Allon Bachuth.

⁹Then ^pGod appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and ^qblessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^ryour name shall not be called Jacob anymore, ^sbut Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. ¹¹Also God said to him: ^t“I am God Almighty. ^uBe fruitful and multiply; ^va nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹²The ^wland which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” ¹³Then God ^xwent ⁴up from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴So Jacob ^yset up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.