Genesis 35

1 Then said God unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, —and make there an altar, to the GOD who appeared unto thee, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

[Some time later] God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar to worship me, God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your older brother Esau.”

2 And Jacob said unto his house, and unto all who were with him, —Put away the gods of the alien which are in your midst, and purify yourselves, and change your garments;

So Jacob said to his household and to all the others who were with him, “Get rid of the idols you brought from Mesopotamia. Also, bathe yourselves and put on clean clothes.

3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el, —that I may make there an altar to the GOD who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way that I went.

Then we will get ready and go up to Bethel. There I will make an altar to worship God. He is the one who helped me at the time when I was greatly distressed and afraid, and he has been with me wherever I have gone.”

4 So they gave unto Jacob all the gods of the alien which were in their hand, and the earrings which were in their ears, —and Jacob hid them under the oak, which was by Shechem.

So they gave to Jacob all the idols that they had brought, and all their earrings. Jacob buried them in the ground under the big oak tree that was near Shechem [town].

5 And they brake up, —and it came to pass that the terror of God, was on the cities which were round about them, so that they pursued not after the sons of Jacob.

As they prepared to leave there, God caused the people who lived in the cities around them to be extremely afraid of Jacob’s family [PRS], so that they did not pursue and attack them.

6 And Jacob came in towards Luz, which was in the land of Canaan, the same, is Beth-el, —he and all the people who were with him.

Jacob and all those who were with him came to Luz, which is now called Bethel, in the Canaan region.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-el, —because, there, God revealed himself unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother,

There he built an altar. He named the place El-Bethel, [which means ‘God of Bethel]’, because it was there that God revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his older brother Esau.

8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, and was buried below Beth-el, under the oak, —so the name thereof was called, Allon-bacuth.

Deborah, who had taken care of Isaac’s wife Rebekah when Rebekah was a small girl, was now very old. She died and was buried under an oak tree south of Bethel. So they named that place Allon-Bacuth, [which means ‘oak of weeping’].

9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came in from Padan-aram, —and blessed him.

After Jacob and his family returned from Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia, while they were still at Bethel, God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him.

10 And God said to him, Thy name, is Jacob, —Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob But, Israel, shall be thy name. So he called his name, Israel.

God said to him again, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. It will be Israel.” So Jacob was then called ‘Israel’.

11 And God said to him—I, am GOD Almighty! Be fruitful and multiply, A nation, and a multitude of nations shall spring from thee, —And, kings, from thy loins, shall come forth;

Then God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Produce many children. Your descendants will become many nations, and some of your descendants will be kings.

12 And, the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, To thee, will I give it, —And to thy seed after thee, will I give the land.

The land that I promised to give to [your grandfather] Abraham and [your father] Isaac, I will give to you. I will also give it to your descendants.”

13 And God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.

When God finished talking there with Jacob, he left him.

14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, —and he poured out thereon a drink-offering, and poured thereon oil.

Jacob set up a large stone at the place where God had talked with him. He poured some wine and some [olive] oil on it to dedicate it to God.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Beth-el.

Jacob named that place Bethel, [which means ‘house of God]’, because God had spoken to him there.

16 Then brake they up from Beth-el, and it came to pass when there was yet a stretch of country, to enter into Ephrath, that Rachel was in childbirth, and had hard-labour in her child-birth.

Jacob and his family left Bethel and traveled south toward Ephrath [town]. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to have severe childbirth pains.

17 So it came to pass when she was in hard-labour in her child-birth, that the midwife said to her—Do not fear, for this also of thine, is, a son.

When her pain was the most severe, the (midwife/woman who helped her to give birth) said to Rachel, “Do not be afraid, because now you have given birth to another son!”

18 And it came to pass when her soul was going forth—for she died, that she called his name Ben-oni, —but, his father, called him, Ben-jamin.

But she was dying, and with her last breath she said, “Name him Benoni,” [which means ‘son of my sorrow]’, but his father named him Benjamin, [which means ‘son of my right hand]’.

19 So Rachel died, —and was buried on the way to Ephrath, the same, is Bethlehem.

After Rachel died, she was buried alongside the road to Ephrath, which is [now called] Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob set up a pillar, over her grave, —the same, is—The Pillar of the Grave of Rachel until this day.

Jacob set up a large stone over her grave, and it is still there, showing where Rachel’s grave is.

21 Then Israel brake up, —and spread his tent at a distance from Migdal Eder.

Jacob, whose new name was Israel, continued traveling with his family, and he set up his tents on the south side of the watchtower at Eder [town].

22 And it came to pass while Israel inhabited that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it. And so the Sons of Israel came to be Twelve.

While they were living in that area, Jacob’s son Reuben had sex [EUP] with Bilhah, one of his father’s (concubines/female slaves whom he had taken as a secondary wife). Someone told Jacob about it, and it made him very angry. (I will now give you/Here is) a list of Jacob’s twelve sons.

23 The sons of Leah, the firstborn of Jacob, Reuben, —And Simeon and Levi and Judah, and Issachar and Zebulon:

The sons of Leah were Reuben, who was Jacob’s oldest son, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulon.

24 The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin:

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

25 And the sons of Bilhah, handmaid of Rachel, Dan, and Naphtali:

The sons of Rachel’s female slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.

26 And the sons of Zilpah, handmaid of Leah, Gad and Asher: These, are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him, in Padan-aram.

The sons of Leah’s female slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. All those sons of Jacob, except Benjamin, were born while he was living in Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia.

27 Then came Jacob unto Isaac his father, to Mamre, the city of Arba, —the same, is Hebron, where had sojourned Abraham and Isaac.

Jacob had returned back home to see his father Isaac at Mamre, which is also named Kiriath-Arba, and which is now named Hebron. Isaac’s father Abraham had also lived there.

28 And the days of Isaac came to be—a hundred and eighty years.

Isaac lived until he was 180 years old.

29 And Isaac breathed his last, and died and was added unto his people, old, and satisfied with days, —and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

He was very old when he died, joining his ancestors who had died previously. His sons Esau and Jacob buried his body.