Jacob’s Return to Bethel
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up toBethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God,who appeared to youwhen you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2 And Jacob said to hishousehold and to all whowerewith him, “Put awaythe foreign gods thatareamong you,purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 Then 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 distressand has been with me in the way which I have gone.”
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods whichwerein their hands, and theearrings whichwerein their ears; and Jacob hid them underthe terebinth tree whichwasby Shechem.
5 And they journeyed, andthe terror of God was upon the cities thatwereall around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came toLuz (thatis,Bethel), whichisin the land of Canaan, he and all the people whowerewith him.
7 And hebuilt an altar there and called the place El Bethel, becausethere God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 NowDeborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.
9 ThenGod appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, andblessed him.
10 And God said to him, “Your nameisJacob;your name shall not be called Jacob anymore,but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
11 Also God said to him:“IamGod Almighty.Be fruitful and multiply;a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
12 Theland which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”
13 Then Godwent up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 So Jacobset 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.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him,Bethel.
Death of Rachel
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel laboredinchildbirth,and she had hard labor.
17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear;you will have this son also.”
18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
19 SoRachel died and was buried on the way toEphrath (thatis,Bethlehem).
20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, whichisthe pillar of Rachel’s graveto this day.
21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyondthe tower of Eder.
22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went andlay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heardaboutit.
Jacob’s Twelve Sons
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
23 the sons of LeahwereReuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;
24 the sons of RachelwereJoseph and Benjamin;
25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant,wereDan and Naphtali;
26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant,wereGad and Asher. Thesewerethe sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.
Death of Isaac
27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac atMamre, orKirjath Arba (thatis,Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.
28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, andwas gathered to his people,beingold and full of days. Andhis sons Esau and Jacob buried him.