1God said to Jacob, “Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to the God who appeared to you there. This was when you were running away from your brother Esau.”

2So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods you have. Make yourselves clean, and change your clothes. 3We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God. He has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 4So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had. And they gave him the earrings they were wearing. He hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem. 5Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid. So they did not follow the sons of Jacob. 6And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz. It is now called Bethel. It is in the land of Canaan. 7There Jacob built an altar. He named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there. That was when he was running from his brother.

8Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel. They named that place Oak of Crying.

Jacob’s New Name

9When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him. 10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. 11God said to him, “I am God All-Powerful. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. 12I gave Abraham and Isaac land. I will give that same land to you and your descendants.” 13Then God left him. 14Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him. And he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. 15And Jacob named the place Bethel.

Rachel Dies Giving Birth

16Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby. 17But she was having much trouble with this birth. When Rachel’s nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.” 18Rachel gave birth to the son, but she died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering. But Jacob called him Benjamin.# This name means “right-hand son” or “favorite son.”

19Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem. 20And Jacob set up a rock on her grave to honor her. That rock is still there today. 21Then Israel, also called Jacob, continued his journey. He camped just south of Migdal Eder.

22While Israel was in that land Reuben had physical relations with Israel’s slave woman Bilhah. And Israel heard about it.

The Family of Israel

Jacob had 12 sons. 23He had 6 sons by his wife Leah. Reuben was his first son. Then Leah had Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

24He had 2 sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25He had 2 sons by Rachel’s slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

26And he had 2 sons by Leah’s slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher.

These are Jacob’s sons who were born in Northwest Mesopotamia.

27Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron. This is where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28Isaac lived 180 years. 29So Isaac breathed his last breath and died when he was very old. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

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Genesis 35

1Then God sayde to Iaakob, Arise, goe vp to Beth-el and dwell there, and make there an altar vnto God, that appeared vnto thee, when thou fleddest from Esau thy brother. 2Then saide Iaakob vnto his houshold and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and clense your selues, and change your garments: 3For we will rise and goe vp to Beth-el, and I will make an altar there vnto God, which heard me in the day of my tribulation, and was with me in the way which I went. 4And they gaue vnto Iaakob all the strange gods, which were in their hands, and all their earings which were in their eares, and Iaakob hidde them vnder an oke, which was by Shechem. 5Then they went on their iourney, and the feare of God was vpon the cities that were roud about them: so that they did not follow after the sonnes of Iaakob. 6So came Iaakob to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan: (the same is Beth-el) hee and all the people that was with him. 7And he built there an altar, and had called the place, The God of Beth-el, because that God appeared vnto him there, when he fled from his brother. 8Then Deborah Rebekahs nourse dyed, and was buried beneath Beth-el vnder an oke: and he called the name of it Allon Bachuth. 9Againe God appeared vnto Iaakob, after he came out of Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10Moreouer God said vnto him, Thy name is Iaakob: thy name shalbe no more called Iaakob, but Israel shalbe thy name: and hee called his name Israel. 11Againe God said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. growe, and multiplie. a nation and a multitude of nations shall spring of thee, and Kings shall come out of thy loynes. 12Also I will giue the lande, which I gaue to Abraham and Izhak, vnto thee: and vnto thy seede after thee will I giue that land. 13So God ascended from him in the place where he had talked with him. 14And Iaakob set vp a pillar in the place where he talked with him, a pillar of stone, and powred drinke offring thereon: also hee powred oyle thereon. 15And Iaakob called the name of the place, where God spake with him, Beth-el. 16Then they departed from Beth-el, and when there was about halfe a daies iourney of ground to come to Ephrath, Rahel trauailed, and in trauailing she was in perill. 17And whe she was in paines of her labour, the midwife saide vnto her, Feare not: for thou shalt haue this sonne also. 18Then as she was about to yeelde vp the Ghost (for she died) she called his name Ben-oni, but his father called him Beniamin. 19Thus died Rahel, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. 20And Iaakob set a pillar vpon her graue: This is the pillar of Rahels graue vnto this day. 21Then Israel went forwarde, and pitched his tent beyond Migdal-eder. 22Now, when Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben went, and lay with Bilhah his fathers concubine, and it came to Israels eare. And Iaakob had twelue sonnes. 23The sonnes of Leah: Reuben Iaakobs eldest sonne, and Simeon, and Leui, and Iudah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. 24The sonnes of Rahel: Ioseph and Beniamin. 25And the sonnes of Bilhah Rahels maide: Dan and Naphtali. 26And the sonnes of Zilpah Leahs maide: Gad and Asher. These are the sonnes of Iaakob, which were borne him in Padan Aram. 27Then Iaakob came vnto Izhak his father to Mamre a citie of Arbah: this is Hebron, where Abraham and Izhak were strangers. 28And the daies of Izhak were an hundreth and fourescore yeeres. 29And Izhak gaue vp the ghost and died, and was gathered vnto his people, being olde and full of daies: and his sonnes Esau and Iaakob buried him.

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Genesis 35

Genesis 35