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.”