Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 67
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and donkeys—everything they could lay their
hands on, both inside the town and outside in
the fields. 29 They looted all their wealth and
plundered their houses. They also took all their
little children and wives and led them away as
captives.
30Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,
“You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink
among all the people of this land—among all the
Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that
they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined,
and my entire household will be wiped out!”
31“But why should we let him treat our sister
like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
CHAPTER
35
Jacob’s Return to Bethel
Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to
Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the
God who appeared to you when you fled from
your brother, Esau.”
2 So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get
rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and
put on clean clothing. 3 We are now going to
Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who
answered my prayers when I was in distress. He
has been with me wherever I have gone.”
4So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and
earrings, and he buried them under the great
tree near Shechem. 5As they set out, a terror
from God spread over the people in all the
towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s
family.
6Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived
at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. 7Jacob built
an altar there and named the place El-bethel
(which means “God of Bethel”), because God had
appeared to him there when he was fleeing from
his brother, Esau.
8Soon after this, Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried beneath the oak tree in
the valley below Bethel. Ever since, the tree has
been called Allon-bacuth (which means “oak of
weeping”).
9Now that Jacob had returned from Paddanaram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God
blessed him, 10saying, “Your name is Jacob, but
you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now
on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed
him Israel.
11 Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings
will be among your descendants! 12And I will
give you the land I once gave to Abraham and
... Genesis 36
Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” 13 Then God went up from the
place where he had spoken to Jacob.
14Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place
where God had spoken to him. Then he poured
wine over it as an offering to God and anointed
the pillar with olive oil. 15And Jacob named the
place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him there.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16Leaving
Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on
toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor
while they were still some distance away. Her
labor pains were intense. 17After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be
afraid—you have another son!” 18Rachel was
about to die, but with her last breath she named
the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him
Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).
19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to
Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20Jacob set up a
stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can
be seen there to this day.
21 Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond
Migdal-eder. 22 While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.
These are the names of the twelve sons of
Jacob:
23 The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest
son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and
Zebulun.
24The sons of Rachel were Joseph and
Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan
and Naphtali.
26The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad
and Asher.
These are the names of the sons who were born
to Jacob at Paddan-aram.
27So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in
Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called
Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both
lived as foreigners. 28Isaac lived for 180 years.
29 Then he breathed his last and died at a ripe old
age, joining his ancestors in death. And his sons,
Esau and Jacob, buried him.
CHAPTER
36
Descendants of Esau
This is the account of the descendants of Esau
(also known as Edom). 2Esau married two young
