Jacob at Bethel
Genesis 35, verse 1. Now God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” Genesis 35, verse 2. Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Genesis 35, verse 3. Let us arise and go up to Bethel and make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my tribulation, and was with me and saved me on the road I traveled.” Genesis 35, verse 4. So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their hands, and the earrings in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree near Shechem. Genesis 35, verse 5. Then Israel departed from Shechem, and the fear of God was upon all the cities around them. Thus they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. Genesis 35, verse 6. Now Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him. Genesis 35, verse 7. He built an altar there and called the place Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother Esau. Genesis 35, verse 8. Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak. So Jacob called its name the Oak of Mourning. Genesis 35, verse 9. Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Mesopotamia, and blessed him. Genesis 35, verse 10. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not any more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” Genesis 35, verse 11. God also said to him, “I am your God. Increase and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. Genesis 35, verse 12. The land I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your seed after you I give this land.” Genesis 35, verse 13. Then God ascended from him in the place where He talked with him. Genesis 35, verse 14. So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. Genesis 35, verse 15. Thus Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him Bethel.
The Death of Rachel
Genesis 35, verse 16. Then Jacob departed from Bethel, and when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored with much difficulty in childbirth. Genesis 35, verse 17. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Take courage; you will have this son also.” Genesis 35, verse 18. So it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. Genesis 35, verse 19. Thus Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Genesis 35, verse 20. Then Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. Genesis 35, verse 21. Now Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. Genesis 35, verse 22. So it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. Israel heard about it, and it was seen as evil in his sight.
The Twelve Sons of Jacob
Genesis 35, verse 23. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Genesis 35, verse 24. the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; Genesis 35, verse 25. the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; Genesis 35, verse 26. and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.
The Death of Isaac
Genesis 35, verse 27. Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. Genesis 35, verse 28. Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. Genesis 35, verse 29. So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. Thus his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.