בראשית 35

1 ויאמר אלהים אל יעקב קום עלה בית אל ושב שם ועשה שם מזבח--לאל הנראה אליך בברחך מפני עשו אחיך

[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 ויאמר יעקב אל ביתו ואל כל אשר עמו הסרו את אלהי הנכר אשר בתככם והטהרו והחליפו שמלתיכם

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 ונקומה ונעלה בית אל ואעשה שם מזבח לאל הענה אתי ביום צרתי ויהי עמדי בדרך אשר הלכתי

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 ויתנו אל יעקב את כל אלהי הנכר אשר בידם ואת הנזמים אשר באזניהם ויטמן אתם יעקב תחת האלה אשר עם שכם

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 ויסעו ויהי חתת אלהים על הערים אשר סביבותיהם ולא רדפו אחרי בני יעקב

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 ויבא יעקב לוזה אשר בארץ כנען--הוא בית אל הוא וכל העם אשר עמו

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

7 ויבן שם מזבח ויקרא למקום אל בית אל כי שם נגלו אליו האלהים בברחו מפני אחיו

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 ותמת דברה מינקת רבקה ותקבר מתחת לבית אל תחת האלון ויקרא שמו אלון בכות

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 וירא אלהים אל יעקב עוד בבאו מפדן ארם ויברך אתו

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 ויאמר לו אלהים שמך יעקב לא יקרא שמך עוד יעקב כי אם ישראל יהיה שמך ויקרא את שמו ישראל

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

11 ויאמר לו אלהים אני אל שדי פרה ורבה--גוי וקהל גוים יהיה ממך ומלכים מחלציך יצאו

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 ואת הארץ אשר נתתי לאברהם וליצחק--לך אתננה ולזרעך אחריך אתן את הארץ

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 ויעל מעליו אלהים במקום אשר דבר אתו

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

14 ויצב יעקב מצבה במקום אשר דבר אתו--מצבת אבן ויסך עליה נסך ויצק עליה שמן

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 ויקרא יעקב את שם המקום אשר דבר אתו שם אלהים--בית אל

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

16 ויסעו מבית אל ויהי עוד כברת הארץ לבוא אפרתה ותלד רחל ותקש בלדתה

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 ויהי בהקשתה בלדתה ותאמר לה המילדת אל תיראי כי גם זה לך בן

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 ויהי בצאת נפשה כי מתה ותקרא שמו בן אוני ואביו קרא לו בנימין

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 ותמת רחל ותקבר בדרך אפרתה הוא בית לחם

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

20 ויצב יעקב מצבה על קברתה--הוא מצבת קברת רחל עד היום

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

21 ויסע ישראל ויט אהלה מהלאה למגדל עדר

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 ויהי בשכן ישראל בארץ ההוא וילך ראובן וישכב את בלהה פילגש אביו וישמע ישראל ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר

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 בני לאה בכור יעקב ראובן ושמעון ולוי ויהודה ויששכר וזבלון

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

24 בני רחל יוסף ובנימן

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

25 ובני בלהה שפחת רחל דן ונפתלי

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

26 ובני זלפה שפחת לאה גד ואשר אלה בני יעקב אשר ילד לו בפדן ארם

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 ויבא יעקב אל יצחק אביו ממרא קרית הארבע--הוא חברון אשר גר שם אברהם ויצחק

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 ויהיו ימי יצחק--מאת שנה ושמנים שנה

Isaac lived until he was 180 years old.

29 ויגוע יצחק וימת ויאסף אל עמיו זקן ושבע ימים ויקברו אתו עשו ויעקב בניו

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