UST GEN Chapter 35

God Blesses Jacob at the Town of Bethel

35:1-15

35 Then God commanded Jacob, “Leave here and move to the town of Bethel. Build an altar there and offer sacrifices on it to worship me as the God who appeared to you there when you were running away from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob told his family and everyone else who was with him, “Get rid of the idols you have that other people groups worship. Also wash and make yourselves clean and put on clean clothes. 3 Then we will leave here and move to the town of Bethel. There we will build an altar and worship God because he helped me during the time when I was in trouble. He has always been with us and taken care of us everywhere that we have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all their idols and all their earrings. Then Jacob buried all those things at the base of the oak tree that was near the city of Shechem.

5 Then Jacob and everyone with him left that place, and God caused the people in the surrounding towns to be terrified, so that they did not attack Jacob’s family. 6 He and his family continued traveling in the region of Canaan, and they arrived at the town of Luz, which also has the name Bethel. 7 There Jacob built an altar, and he named the place El Bethel, which means “the God of Bethel,” because that is where God had first appeared to him when he was running away from his brother.

8 While they were there, Deborah died. She was the servant that had helped raise Jacob’s mother Rebekah when she was young. Jacob buried her body at the base of an oak tree, in the valley near the town of Bethel. So he named the place Allon Bacuth, which means “oak tree of mourning.”

9 Now that Jacob had returned from the region of Paddan Aram, God appeared to him at Bethel again. There God blessed him 10 and said to him, “Although your name has been Jacob, that will no longer be your name. Rather, you will have the name Israel!” So once again God gave Jacob the name Israel.

11 Then God also said to Jacob, “I am Almighty God. Have many children so that you and your descendants become very numerous. Your descendants will become many people groups, and some of your descendants will be kings. 12 Besides that, the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you and your descendants who live after you.” 13 After God finished talking to Jacob, he left him there and went up to heaven.

14 Then Jacob stood a large stone up on its end at the place where God had talked to him, to mark the place as special. Then he poured some wine and some olive oil on the stone marker to thank God and dedicate the place to him. 15 Since God had talked to Jacob at that place, Jacob named it Bethel, which means “God’s house.”

Rachel Dies Giving Birth to Benjamin

35:16-20

16 Later Jacob and his family moved on from Bethel and headed for the town of Ephrath. While they were still some distance from there, his wife Rachel went into labor, but she was experiencing great difficulty. 17 Then when her labor pain was at its worst, the baby was born and the woman who was helping her deliver exclaimed to her, “Do not despair! You now have another son!” 18 But Rachel was dying, and as her spirit was leaving her body, she named her baby Benoni which means “son of my sorrow”. But later, his father Jacob changed his name to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.”

19 After Rachel died, they buried her body beside the road to the town of Ephrath, which also has the name Bethlehem. 20 Jacob stood a stone up on its end on her grave to mark where it was. In fact, that same stone still marks Rachel’s grave today.

Jacob’s Twelve Sons

35:21-26

21 Then Israel and his family moved on from there and set up their tents on the south side of the tower of Eder. 22 While they were living in that area, Israel’s son Reuben committed adultery with his father’s servant-wife Bilhah, and Israel found out about it.

With the birth of Benjamin, Jacob now had a total of twelve sons. 23 The sons he had with Leah were Reuben, who was his oldest child, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons he had with Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons he had with Rachel’s servant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. 26 And the sons he had with Leah’s servant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. All those are the sons Jacob had starting from the time that he lived in the region of Paddan Aram.

Isaac Dies

35:27-29

27 Then Jacob went home to his father Isaac in the city of Mamre, which also has the name Kiriath Arba or Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac and their families had lived for a while as foreigners. 28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. 29 Then, after living a long, full life, he took his last breath and died, and he joined his ancestors who had died before him. Then his sons Esau and Jacob buried his body.