Genesis 35
35
God Blesses Jacob at Bethel
1 # Gen 28.11–17 God said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel at once, and live there. Build an altar there to me, the God who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”
2So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that you have; purify yourselves and put on clean clothes. 3We are going to leave here and go to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who helped me in the time of my trouble and who has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 4So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and also the earrings that they were wearing. He buried them beneath the oak tree near Shechem.
5When Jacob and his sons started to leave, great fear fell on the people of the nearby towns, and they did not pursue them. 6Jacob came with all his people to Luz, which is now known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan. 7He built an altar there and named the place after the God of Bethel, because God had revealed himself to him there when he was running away from his brother. 8Rebecca's nurse Deborah died and was buried beneath the oak south of Bethel. So it was named “Oak of Weeping”.
9When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10#Gen 32.28God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel.” So God named him Israel. 11#Gen 17.4–8And God said to him, “I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. 12I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you.” 13Then God left him. 14#Gen 28.18–19There, where God had spoken to him, Jacob set up a memorial stone and consecrated it by pouring wine and olive oil on it. 15He named the place Bethel.
The Death of Rachel
16Jacob and his family left Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, the time came for Rachel to have her baby, and she was having difficult labour. 17When her labour pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, “Don't be afraid, Rachel; it's another boy.” 18But she was dying, and as she breathed her last, she named her son Benoni,#35.18 Benoni: This name in Hebrew means “son of my sorrow”. but his father named him Benjamin.#35.18 Benjamin: This name in Hebrew means “son who will be fortunate”.
19When Rachel died, she was buried beside the road to Ephrath, now known as Bethlehem. 20Jacob set up a memorial stone there, and it still marks Rachel's grave to this day. 21Jacob moved on and set up his camp on the other side of the tower of Eder.
The Sons of Jacob
(1 Chr 2.1–2)
22 # Gen 49.4 While Jacob was living in that land, Reuben had sexual intercourse with Bilhah, one of his father's concubines; Jacob heard about it and was furious.#35.22 One ancient translation and was furious; Hebrew does not have these words.
Jacob had twelve sons. 23The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob's eldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24The sons of Rachel 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 sons were born in Mesopotamia.
The Death of Isaac
27 # Gen 13.18 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28Isaac lived to be 180 years old 29and died at a ripe old age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 35
35
1 About this time, God said to Jacob, "Arise and go up to Bethel, and live there, and make an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
2 In truth, Jacob, having called together all his house, said: "Cast away the foreign gods that are in your midst and be cleansed, and also change your garments.
3 Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, so that we may make an altar there to God, who heeded me in the day of my tribulation, and who accompanied me on my journey."
4 Therefore, they gave him all the foreign gods which they had, and the earrings which were in their ears. And then he buried them under the terebinth tree, which is beyond the city of Shechem.
5 And when they had set out, the terror of God invaded all the surrounding cities, and they dared not pursue them as they withdrew.
6 And so, Jacob arrived at Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, also named Bethel: he and all the people with him.
7 And he built an altar there, and he called the name of that place, 'House of God.' For there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.
8 About the same time, Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died, and she was buried at the base of Bethel, under an oak tree. And the name of that place was called, 'Oak of Weeping.'
9 Then God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,
10 saying: "You will no longer be called Jacob, for your name shall be Israel." And he called him Israel,
11 and he said to him: "I am Almighty God: increase and multiply. Tribes and peoples of nations will be from you, and kings will go forth from your loins.
12 And the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your offspring after you."
13 And he withdrew from him.
14 In truth, he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him, pouring out libations over it, and pouring oil,
15 and he called the name of that place, 'Bethel.'
16 Then, departing from there, he arrived in springtime at the land that leads to Ephrath. And there, when Rachel was giving birth,
17 because it was a difficult birth, she began to be in danger. And the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid, for you will have this son also."
18 Then, when her life was departing because of the pain, and death was now imminent, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my pain. Yet truly, his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand.
19 And so Rachel died, and she was buried in the way that leads to Ephrath: this place is Bethlehem.
20 And Jacob erected a monument over her sepulcher. This is the monument to Rachel's tomb, even to the present day.
21 Departing from there, he pitched his tent beyond the Tower of the Flock.
22 And when he was living in that region, Reuben went out, and he slept with Bilhah the concubine of his father, which was not such a small matter as to be hidden from him. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
23 The sons of Leah: Reuben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bilhah, handmaid of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Zilpah, handmaid of Leah: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.
27 And then he went to his father Isaac in Mamre, the city of Arba: this place is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28 And the days of Isaac were completed: one hundred and eighty years.
29 And being consumed by old age, he died. And he was placed with his people, being old and full of days. And his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.