Jacob Returns to Bethel

1And God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

2And Jacob said to his house and to all who were with him, “Remove the foreign gods that are in your⁺ midst, and purify yourselves, and change your⁺ garments. 3And let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me in the way that I have gone.”

4And they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the rings that were in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak† that was by Shechem.

5And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 6And Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan—that is, Bethel—he and all the people who were with him. 7And he built there an altar and called the place El-bethel,† because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

8And Deborah, nurse of Rebekah, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak,† and he called its name Allon-bachuth.†

9And God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram,† and He blessed him. 10And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob;† your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but rather Israel† shall be your name.” And He called his name Israel.

11And God said to him, “I am El-Shaddai.† Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assembly of nations shall be from you, and kings will come from your loins. 12And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I give to you. And to your seed after you I will give the land.”

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

14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him—a pillar of stone. And he poured on it a drink offering, and he poured on it oil. 15And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.†

Benjamin Born, Rachel Dies

16And they journeyed from Bethel, and there was still some distance of land to go to Ephrathah, and Rachel gave birth, and she had great difficulty in giving birth. 17And it came to pass, when she having difficulty in giving birth, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for also this is a son for you.”

18And it came to pass, as her soul was departing—for she died—that she called his name Ben-oni.† And his father called him Benjamin.†

19And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrathah, that is, Bethlehem. 20And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of the grave of Rachel to this day.

The Sons of Jacob
(1 Chronicles 2:1–2)

21And Israel journeyed, and he pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.

22And it came to pass while Israel was dwelling in the land, that Reuben went in and lay with Bilhah, concubine of his father, and Israel heard of it. And the sons of Jacob were two and ten:

23The sons of Leah: Reuben, firstborn of Jacob and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun;

24the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;

25and the sons of Bilhah, maidservant of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali;

26and the sons of Zilpah, maidservant of Leah: Gad and Asher.

These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

27And Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned there.

28And the days of Isaac were a hundred years and eighty years. 29And Isaac expired and he died, and he was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.