Genesis 35

Jacob Returns to Bethel

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,#35:7 El Bethel means God of 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.#35:8 Allon Bakuth means oak of weeping.

9After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,#35:9 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verse 26 God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,#35:10 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives. but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.#35:10 Israel probably means he struggles with God.” So he named him Israel.

11And God said to him, “I am God Almighty#35:11 Hebrew El-Shaddai; 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.#35:15 Bethel means house of God.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

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.#35:18 Ben-Oni means son of my trouble. But his father named him Benjamin.#35:18 Benjamin means son of my right hand.

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.

Jacob had twelve sons:

23The sons of Leah:

Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

24The sons of Rachel:

Joseph and Benjamin.

25The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:

Dan and Naphtali.

26The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:

Gad and Asher.

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

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.

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Berĕshith (Genesis) 35

1And Elohim said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Arise, go up to Bĕyth Ěl and dwell there. And make a slaughter-place there to Ěl who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Ěsaw your brother.”

2And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign mighty ones that are among you, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments.

3And let us arise and go up to Bĕyth Ěl, and let me make there a slaughter-place to Ěl, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me in the way which I have gone.

4So they gave Ya‛aqoḇ all the foreign mighty ones which were in their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears. And Ya‛aqoḇ hid them under the terebinth tree which was near Sheḵem.

5And they departed, and the fear of Elohim was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ.

6And Ya‛aqoḇ came to Luz, that is Bĕyth Ěl, which is in the land of Kena‛an, he and all the people who were with him.

7And he built there a slaughter-place and called the place El Bĕyth Ěl, because there Elohim appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

8And Deḇorah, Riḇqah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bĕyth Ěl under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Baḵuth.

9And Elohim appeared to Ya‛aqoḇ again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.

10And Elohim said to him, “Your name is Ya‛aqoḇ, your name is no longer called Ya‛aqoḇ, but Yisra’ĕl is your name.” So He called his name Yisra’ĕl.

11And Elohim said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai. Be fruitful and increase, a nation and a company of nations shall be from you, and sovereigns come from your body.

12And the land which I gave Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq I give to you. And to your seed after you I give this land.

13And Elohim went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

14And Ya‛aqoḇ set up a standing column in the place where He had spoken with him, a monument of stone. And he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

15And Ya‛aqoḇ called the name of the place where Elohim spoke with him, Bĕyth Ěl.

16Then they set out from Bĕyth Ěl. And it came to be, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, that Raḥĕl began to give birth, and had great difficulty giving birth.

17And it came to be, as she was having great difficulty giving birth, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for it is another son for you.”

18And it came to be, as her life was going out – for she died – that she called his name Ben-Oni. But his father called him Binyamin.

19So Raḥĕl died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bĕyth Leḥem.

20And Ya‛aqoḇ set a standing column on her burial-place, which is the monument of Raḥĕl’s burial-place to this day.

21And Yisra’ĕl set out and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Ěḏer.

22And it came to be, when Yisra’ĕl dwelt in that land, that Re’uḇĕn went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Yisra’ĕl heard about it. Now the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ were twelve:

23the sons of Lĕ’ah were Re’uḇĕn, Ya‛aqoḇ’s first-born, and Shim‛on, and Lĕwi, and Yehuḏah, and Yissasḵar, and Zeḇulun;

24the sons of Raḥĕl were Yosĕph and Binyamin;

25the sons of Bilhah, Raḥĕl’s female servant, were Dan and Naphtali;

26and the sons of Zilpah, Lĕ’ah’s female servant, were Gaḏ and Ashĕr. These were the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

27And Ya‛aqoḇ came to his father Yitsḥaq at Mamrĕ, or Qiryath Arba, that is Ḥeḇron, where Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq had dwelt.

28And the days of Yitsḥaq were one hundred and eighty years.

29So Yitsḥaq breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, aged and satisfied of days. And his sons Ěsaw and Ya‛aqoḇ buried him.

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