1 God said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel straight away and live there. When you arrive build an altar for me. I am the God who came and appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”

2 So Jacob spoke to his family and to all who were with him. He said, “Get rid of the carved gods you have got. Wash yourselves and put on clean clothes. 3 We are going to leave here and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there for God. He is the one who helped me when I was in trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”

4 So they gave Jacob all the carved gods they had and also the earrings they were wearing. Jacob dug a hole and threw everything into it and buried it. The hole he dug was near Shechem under the special tree there. 5 Jacob and his sons went away and all the people in Shechem and in other towns nearby were afraid and didn't chase them.

6 Jacob and all his people travelled on to Luz. Luz is in Canaan but today it is called Bethel. 7 He built an altar there and named the place “the God of Bethel.” Jacob gave it that name because God had shown himself to him there when he was running away from his brother.

8 Rebecca's servant Deborah died and they took her body south to a big tree and buried her under it. The tree was near Bethel and they called it “the tree where they wept.”

9 After Jacob returned from Mesopotamia God came and appeared again to him and gave him a special blessing. 10 He said, “Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel.” He gave Jacob this new name 11 and said to him, “I am the most powerful God. You will have many descendants. There will be so many that they become separate nations, and some will be kings. 12 I will give you the land I first gave to Abraham and then to Isaac. Now I will give it to you and to your descendants after you.” 13 Then God left him.

14 Then Jacob set up a stone so that he would remember what God had said. He set it up there where God had spoken to him, and he poured wine and olive oil on it so that it would be holy. 15 Then he named the place Bethel, because Bethel means “house of God.”

16 Then Jacob and his family left Bethel to go south to a place called Ephrath. But before they reached Ephrath Rachel was ready to have her baby, so they stopped on the way. Rachel was in great pain. 17 A servant woman was helping her, but Rachel was in a lot of pain. The woman said to her, “Don't be afraid, it is another boy.” 18 But Rachel was dying. As she breathed her last breath she named him Benoni, because Benoni means “son of my sorrow.” But Jacob named him Benjamin, because Benjamin means “good will come to my son.”

19 After Rachel died they buried her beside the road that goes to Ephrath. They used to call it Ephrath but they changed the name and now it is called Bethlehem. 20 Jacob set up a stone there where they buried her to remember her, and it is still there today. 21 Jacob and his family left there and went to a place called Eder. There was a tall building there and they made their camp on the other side of it.

22 While Jacob and his family were living there, Jacob's son Reuben took Bilhah, his father's servant woman. His father heard about it and he was very angry.

Jacob had twelve sons. 23 Leah's sons were Reuben (Jacob's eldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. 24 Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Rachel's servant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Leah's servant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. All these sons were born in Mesopotamia.

27 Jacob and his family went to his father Isaac to the place where Abraham and then his son Isaac had lived. It was called Mamre and it was near Hebron. And they stayed there with Isaac. 28-29 Isaac was very old now. When he was 180 years old he died and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.