Genesis 35

Jacob Moves to Bethel

1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and [a]live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled [b]from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me [c]wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which [d]they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the [e]oak which was near Shechem.

As they journeyed, there was [f]a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. He built an altar there, and called the place [g]El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled [h]from his brother. Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named [i]Allon-bacuth.

Jacob Is Named Israel

Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. 10 God said to him,

“Your name is Jacob;
[j]You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”

Thus He called [k]him Israel. 11 God also said to him,

“I am [l]God Almighty;
Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a company of nations shall [m]come from you,
And kings shall [n]come forth from [o]you.
12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac,
I will give it to you,
And I will give the land to your [p]descendants after you.”

13 Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, [q]Bethel.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she [r]suffered severe labor. 17 When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” 18 It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him [s]Ben-oni; but his father called him [t]Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21 Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the [u]tower of [v]Eder.

22 It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

The Sons of Israel

Now there were twelve sons of Jacob— 23 the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; 25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man [w]of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:1 Lit dwell
  2. Genesis 35:1 Lit from the face of
  3. Genesis 35:3 Lit in the way which
  4. Genesis 35:4 Lit were in their hand
  5. Genesis 35:4 Or terebinth
  6. Genesis 35:5 Or a terror of God
  7. Genesis 35:7 I.e. the God of Bethel
  8. Genesis 35:7 Lit from the face of
  9. Genesis 35:8 I.e. oak of weeping
  10. Genesis 35:10 Lit Your name
  11. Genesis 35:10 Lit his name
  12. Genesis 35:11 Heb El Shaddai
  13. Genesis 35:11 Or come into being
  14. Genesis 35:11 Or come into being
  15. Genesis 35:11 Lit your loins
  16. Genesis 35:12 Lit seed
  17. Genesis 35:15 I.e. the house of God
  18. Genesis 35:16 Lit had difficulty in her giving birth
  19. Genesis 35:18 I.e. the son of my sorrow
  20. Genesis 35:18 I.e. the son of the right hand
  21. Genesis 35:21 Heb Migdal-eder
  22. Genesis 35:21 Or flock
  23. Genesis 35:29 Lit and satisfied with days