Genesis 35

₁Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.’

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

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

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

₉After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. ₁₀God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.’ So he named him Israel.

₁₁And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. ₁₂The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’ ₁₃Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

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

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

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

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

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