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Jacob in Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Go to the town of Bethel.[a] That is where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau. Live there and make an altar to honor me as El,[b] the God who appeared to you.”

So Jacob told his family and all the other people with him, “Destroy all these foreign gods that you have. Make yourselves pure. Put on clean clothes. We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to the God who has always helped me during times of trouble. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

So the people gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and they gave him all the rings they were wearing in their ears. He buried everything under an oak tree near the town called Shechem.

Then Jacob and his sons left that place. The people in the surrounding cities wanted to follow and kill them, but God filled them with such great fear that they did not go after them. So Jacob and his people went to Luz, which is now called Bethel. It is in the land of Canaan. Jacob built an altar there. He named the place “El Bethel.”[c] Jacob chose this name because that is the place where God first appeared to him when he was running from his brother.

Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died there. They buried her under the oak tree at Bethel. They named that place Allon Bacuth.[d]

Jacob’s New Name

When Jacob came back from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. God blessed Jacob 10 and said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but I will change that name. You will no longer be called Jacob. Your new name will be Israel.[e]” So God named him Israel.

11 God said to him, “I am God All-Powerful,[f] and I give you this blessing: Have many children and grow into a great nation. Other nations and other kings will come out of you. 12 I gave Abraham and Isaac some special land. Now I give the land to you and to all your people who will live after you.” 13 Then God left that place. 14-15 Jacob set up a memorial stone there. He made the rock holy by pouring wine and oil on it. This was a special place because God spoke to Jacob there, and Jacob named the place Bethel.

Rachel Dies Giving Birth

16 Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby. 17 She was having a lot of trouble with this birth. She was in great pain. When her nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.”

18 Rachel died while giving birth to the son. Before dying, she named the boy Benoni.[g] But Jacob called him Benjamin.[h]

19 Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob put a special rock on Rachel’s grave to honor her. That special rock is still there today. 21 Then Israel continued his journey. He camped just south of Eder tower.[i]

22 Israel stayed there for a short time. While he was there, Reuben slept with Israel’s slave woman Bilhah. Israel heard about this, and he was very angry.[j]

The Family of Israel (Jacob)

These are the names of Jacob’s twelve sons:

23 His firstborn son was Reuben, whose mother was Leah. Jacob’s other sons by Leah were Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 His sons by Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

25 His sons by Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, were Dan and Naphtali.

26 His sons by Zilpah, Leah’s maid, were Gad and Asher.

These were Jacob’s sons who were born in Paddan Aram.

27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba (Hebron). This is where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28 Isaac lived 180 years. 29 Then Isaac became weak and died and went to be with his people. He had lived a long and full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau’s Family

36 This is the history of the family of Esau (Edom). Esau married women from the land of Canaan. His wives were Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. Esau and Adah had a son named Eliphaz. Basemath had a son named Reuel. Oholibamah had three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau’s sons who were born in the land of Canaan.

6-8 Jacob and Esau’s families became too big for the land in Canaan to support them all, so Esau moved away from his brother Jacob. He took his wives, sons, daughters, all his slaves, cattle and other animals, and everything else that he had gotten in Canaan and moved to the hill country of Seir.[k] (Esau is also named Edom.)

Esau is the father of the people of Edom. These are the names of Esau’s family living in the hill country of Seir:

10 Esau and Adah’s son was Eliphaz. Esau and Basemath’s son was Reuel.

11 Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

12 Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna. Timna and Eliphaz had a son named Amalek.

13 Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

These were Esau’s grandsons from his wife Basemath.

14 Esau’s third wife was Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah’s children were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15 These are the family groups that came from Esau:

Esau’s first son was Eliphaz. From Eliphaz came Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek.

All these family groups came from Esau’s wife Adah.

17 Esau’s son Reuel was the father of these families: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

All these families came from Esau’s wife Basemath.

18 Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These three men were the leaders of their families.

19 They were all sons of Esau and leaders of the family groups of Edom.[l]

20 Seir, a Horite man, lived in Edom before Esau. These are the sons of Seir:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These sons were all Horite family leaders from Seir in Edom.

22 Lotan was the father of Hori and Heman.[m] (Timna was Lotan’s sister.)

23 Shobal was the father of Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24 Zibeon had two sons, Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the springs in the desert while he was caring for his father’s donkeys.

25 Anah was the father of Dishon and Oholibamah.

26 Dishon had four sons. They were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

27 Ezer had three sons. They were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28 Dishan had two sons. They were Uz and Aran.

29 These are the names of the leaders of the Horite families: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These men were the leaders of the families that lived in the country of Seir.

31 At that time there were kings in Edom. Edom had kings a long time before Israel did.

32 Bela son of Beor was a king who ruled in Edom. He ruled over the city of Dinhabah.

33 When Bela died, Jobab became king. Jobab was the son of Zerah from Bozrah.

34 When Jobab died, Husham ruled. Husham was from the land of the Temanites.

35 When Husham died, Hadad ruled that area. Hadad was the son of Bedad. (He was the man who defeated Midian in the country of Moab.) Hadad was from the city of Avith.

36 When Hadad died, Samlah ruled that country. Samlah was from Masrekah.

37 When Samlah died, Shaul ruled that area. Shaul was from Rehoboth by the River.

38 When Shaul died, Baal Hanan ruled that country. Baal Hanan was the son of Acbor.

39 When Baal Hanan died, Hadad[n] ruled that country. Hadad was from the city of Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred. (Mezahab was Matred’s father.)

40-43 Esau was the father of these Edomite families:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. Each of these families lived in an area that was called by the same name as their family.

Joseph the Dreamer

37 Jacob stayed and lived in the land of Canaan. This is the same land where his father had lived. This is the story of Jacob’s family.

Joseph was a young man, 17 years old. His job was to take care of the sheep and the goats. Joseph did this work with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. (Bilhah and Zilpah were his father’s wives.) Joseph told his father about the bad things that his brothers did. Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel was very old, so Israel loved him more than he loved his other sons. Jacob gave him a special coat, which was long and very beautiful.[o] When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother because of this. They refused to say nice things to him.

One time Joseph had a special dream. Later, he told his brothers about this dream, and after that his brothers hated him even more.

Joseph said, “I had a dream. We were all working in the field, tying stacks of wheat together. Then my stack got up. It stood there while all of your stacks of wheat made a circle around mine and bowed down to it.”

His brothers said, “Do you think this means that you will be a king and rule over us?” His brothers hated Joseph more now because of the dreams he had about them.

Then Joseph had another dream, and he told his brothers about it. He said, “I had another dream. I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”

10 Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father criticized him. His father said, “What kind of dream is this? Do you believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?” 11 Joseph’s brothers continued to be jealous of him, but his father thought about all these things and wondered what they could mean.

12 One day Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to care for their father’s sheep. 13 Jacob said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep.”

Joseph answered, “I will go.”

14 His father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe. Come back and tell me if my sheep are all fine.” So Joseph’s father sent him from the Valley of Hebron to Shechem.

15 At Shechem, Joseph got lost. A man found him wandering in the fields. The man said, “What are you looking for?”

16 Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are with their sheep?”

17 The man said, “They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Joseph Sold Into Slavery

18 Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him. 19 They said to each other, “Here comes Joseph the dreamer. 20 We should kill him now while we can. We could throw his body into one of the empty wells and tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless.”

21 But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, “Let’s not kill him. 22 We can put him into a well without hurting him.” Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat. 24 Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry.

25 While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. They looked up and saw a group of traders[p] traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death? 27 We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother.” The other brothers agreed. 28 When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt.

29 Reuben had been gone, but when he came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes to show that he was upset. 30 Reuben went to the brothers and said, “The boy is not in the well! What will I do?” 31 The brothers killed a goat and put the goat’s blood on Joseph’s beautiful coat. 32 Then the brothers showed the coat to their father. And the brothers said, “We found this coat. Is this Joseph’s coat?”

33 His father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph’s. He said, “Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal!” 34 Jacob was so sorry about his son that he tore his clothes. Then Jacob put on special clothes to show that he was sad. He continued to be sad about his son for a long time. 35 All of Jacob’s sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but Jacob was never comforted. He said, “I will be sad about my son until the day I die.” So Jacob continued to mourn his son Joseph.

36 The Midianite traders later sold Joseph in Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, an officer of the king of Egypt and the captain of his palace guards.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:1 Bethel A town in Israel. This name means “God’s house.”
  2. Genesis 35:1 El A Hebrew name for God.
  3. Genesis 35:7 El Bethel A name that means “the God of Bethel.”
  4. Genesis 35:8 Allon Bacuth This name means “the oak tree of sadness.”
  5. Genesis 35:10 Israel This name might mean “he fights for God,” “he fights with God,” or “God fights.”
  6. Genesis 35:11 God All-Powerful Literally, “El Shaddai.”
  7. Genesis 35:18 Benoni This name means “son of my suffering.”
  8. Genesis 35:18 Benjamin This name means “right-hand” or “favorite son.”
  9. Genesis 35:21 Eder tower Or “Migdal Eder.”
  10. Genesis 35:22 and he was very angry These words are from the ancient Greek translation. They are not in the standard Hebrew text. See Gen. 49:4.
  11. Genesis 36:6 Seir A mountain range in Edom.
  12. Genesis 36:19 Esau … Edom Two names for the man Esau and the country Edom.
  13. Genesis 36:22 Heman Or “Homam.”
  14. Genesis 36:39 Hadad Or “Hadar.”
  15. Genesis 37:3 beautiful The Hebrew means “striped,” or possibly, “many colored.”
  16. Genesis 37:25 traders Literally, “Ishmaelites.”

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