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G EN ES IS 3 5
with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
27 Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been
defiled there. 28 They seized all the flocks and
herds 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.
30 Afterward 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.
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.”
4 So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and
earrings, and he buried them under the great
tree near Shechem. 5 As 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.
6 Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan.
7 Jacob 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.
8 Soon 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”).
9 Now that Jacob had returned from Paddanaram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God
blessed him, 10 saying, “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! 12 And I will
give you the land I once gave to Abraham and
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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.
14 Jacob 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. 15 And Jacob named the
place Bethel (which means “house of God”),
because God had spoken to him there.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16 Leaving 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. 17 After a very hard
delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t
be afraid—you have another son!” 18 Rachel
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”). 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the
way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob 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.
24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and
Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The 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.
27 So 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. 28 Isaac 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.
Descendants of Esau
This is the account of the descendants
of Esau (also known as Edom). 2 Esau
married two young women from Canaan: Adah,
the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter
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35:10 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and
“deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.” 35:21 Hebrew Israel; also
in 35:22a. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged
throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the
individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.