Genesis 35

Return to Bethel

¹God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. ^a Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ^b

²So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. ^c Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ^{d 3}We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. ^e He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” ^f

⁴Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. ⁵When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. ^{g 6}So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel ^h) in the land of Canaan. ⁷Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel ⁱ because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah, ^j,^k died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth. ^l

⁹God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” ^m So he named him Israel. ¹¹God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. ⁿ Be fruitful and multiply. ^o A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, ^p and kings will descend from you. ^q,^{r 12}I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. ^s And I will give the land to your future descendants.” ¹³Then God withdrew ^t,^u from him at the place where he had spoken to him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him #— #a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ^{v 15}Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Rachel’s Death

¹⁶They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. ¹⁷During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” ^{w 18}With her last breath #— #for she was dying #— #she named him Ben-oni, ^x but his father called him Benjamin. ^{y 19}So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem ^z). ²⁰Jacob set up a marker on her grave; it is the marker at Rachel’s grave still today.

Israel’s Sons

²¹Israel set out again and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder. ^{aa 22}While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. ^ab

Jacob had twelve sons: ^ac

²³Leah’s sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn),

Simeon, Levi, Judah,

Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴Rachel’s sons were

Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah

were Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah

were Gad and Asher.

These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Isaac’s Death

²⁷Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre ^ad in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron ^ae), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ²⁸Isaac lived 180 years. ²⁹He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people, ^af old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.