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Genesis Chapter 35 (JPS)

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Genesis Chapter 35 (JPS)

1 And G-d said unto Jacob: 'Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto G-d, who appeared unto thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esau thy brother.'

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments;

3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto G-d, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.'

4 And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.

5 And they journeyed; and a terror of G-d was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there G-d was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

8 And Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.

9 And G-d appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.

10 And G-d said unto him: 'Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name'; and He called his name Israel.

11 And G-d said unto him: 'I am G-d Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

12 and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.'

13 And G-d went up from him in the place where He spoke with him.

14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where G-d spoke with him, Beth-el.

16 And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the mid-wife said unto her: 'Fear not; for this also is a son for thee.'

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

19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath--the same is Beth-lehem.

20 And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; the same is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond Migdal-eder.

22 And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

23 the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's first-born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun;

24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;

25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphtali;

26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriatharba--the same is Hebron--where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and fourscore years.

29 And Isaac expired, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of days; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens on the journey back to Bethel in Genesis 35?
God tells Jacob to return to Bethel and build an altar; Jacob has his household get rid of their foreign idols first, God reaffirms Jacob's new name Israel there, and on the journey Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, completing Jacob's twelve sons; the chapter closes with Isaac's death at 180.
Why did Jacob bury idols before going to Bethel?
Verses 2-4 say Jacob told his household to put away the 'strange gods' and earrings among them and be clean before going up to Bethel to build the altar; he buried them under an oak near Shechem.
Who were the twelve sons of Jacob?
Verses 23-26 list them by mother: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun by Leah; Joseph and Benjamin by Rachel; Dan and Naphtali by Bilhah; and Gad and Asher by Zilpah — the household's preparation for holiness here recalls the cleansing before Sinai in Exodus 19:14.

Today's Verse

but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

Daniel 2:28 | ASV

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