Study Desk

Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to ^(a)Bethel and ^[a]live there, and make an altar there to ^(b)God, who appeared to you ^(c)when you fled ^[b]from your brother Esau."

So Jacob said to his ^(d)household and to all who were with him, "Put away ^(e)the foreign gods which are among you, and ^(f)purify yourselves and change your garments;

and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make ^(g)an altar there to God, ^(h)who answered me in the day of my distress and ⁽ⁱ⁾has been with me ^[c]wherever I have gone."

So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which ^[d]they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the ^[e]oak which was near Shechem.

As they journeyed, there was ^[f](j)a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

So Jacob came to ^(k)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

^(l)He built an altar there, and called the place ^[g]El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled ^[h]from his brother.

Now ^(m)Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named ^[i]Allon-bacuth.

Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He ⁽ⁿ⁾blessed him.

^(o)God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; ^[j]You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus He called ^[k]him Israel.

God also said to him, "I am ^[l](p)God Almighty; ^(q)Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a ^(r)company of nations shall ^[m]come from you, And ^(s)kings shall ^[n]come forth from ^[o]you.

"^(t)The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your ^[p]descendants after you."

Then ^(u)God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

Jacob set up ^(v)a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.

So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, ^[q](w)Bethel.

Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to ^(x)Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she ^[r]suffered severe labor.

When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, "Do not fear, for now ^(y)you have another son."

It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him ^[s]Ben-oni; but his father called him ^[t]Benjamin.

So ^(z)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(aa)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the ^(ab)pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.

Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the ^[u](ac)tower of ^[v]Eder.

It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that ^(ad)Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it.

The Sons of Israel

Now there were twelve sons of Jacob—

^(ae)the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun;

^(af)the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;

and ^(ag)the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali;

and ^(ah)the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(ai)Mamre of ^(aj)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

Now the days of Isaac were ^(ak)one hundred and eighty years.

Isaac breathed his last and died and was ^(al)gathered to his people, an ^(am)old man ^[w]of ripe age; and ^(an)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.