Genesis 35

Jacob Returns to Bethel

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel^a and settle there, and build an altar^b there to God,^c who appeared to you^d when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”^e

So Jacob said to his household^f and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods^g you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.^h Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,ⁱ who answered me in the day of my distress^j and who has been with me wherever I have gone.^k” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,^l and Jacob buried them under the oak^m at Shechem.ⁿ Then they set out, and the terror of God^o fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.^p

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz^q (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.^r There he built an altar,^s and he called the place El Bethel,^t because it was there that God revealed himself to him^u when he was fleeing from his brother.^v

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,^w died and was buried under the oak^x below Bethel.^y So it was named Allon Bakuth.

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,^z God appeared to him again and blessed him.^a God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”^b So he named him Israel.

And God said to him, “I am God Almighty;^c be fruitful and increase in number.^d A nation^e and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.^f The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.^g”^h Then God went up from himⁱ at the place where he had talked with him.

Jacob set up a stone pillar^j at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering^k on it; he also poured oil on it.^l Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.^m

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

35:23-26^pp — 1Ch 2:1–2

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

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

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

Jacob had twelve sons:

The sons of Leah:ⁿ

Reuben the firstborn^o of Jacob,

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

The sons of Rachel:

Joseph^r and Benjamin.^s

The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:^t

Dan and Naphtali.^u

The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:^v

Gad^w and Asher.^x

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

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