Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

God said to Jacob, "Arise and go up to Bethel. There you will dwell and build an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."

Jacob told his household and all who were with him, "Let's get rid of the foreign gods that are among us. Let's purify ourselves and change our clothes so we can go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God who answered me in the day of my distress. He was with me every step of the way."

They handed over to Jacob all the foreign idols they had, along with the earrings they were wearing. He hid them under an oak tree near Shechem.

As they traveled on, the fear of God spread through the surrounding cities, and no one pursued the sons of Jacob.

Jacob arrived at Luz in Canaan, which is also known as Bethel. With him was everyone who had joined his journey. There he built an altar and named the place Elbethel because God had appeared to him when he fled from his brother's presence.

While Jacob was still there, Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, passed away and was buried beneath Bethel under a massive oak tree that came to be called Allon-bacuth.

When Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but it will no longer be called Jacob. From now on your name shall be Israel." And Jacob named him Israel.

God said to him, "I am the Almighty God; I want you to have many children and become a mighty nation. Your descendants will multiply and spread out into many nations."

God continued, "I'm giving you and your descendants the same land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac."

After speaking with Jacob, God departed from him at the place where they had met.

Jacob set up a stone pillar in the spot where he had spoken with God. He poured a drink offering on it and also anointed it with oil.

Later, Jacob named that place Bethel because it was there that God had spoken to him.

As they traveled on from Bethel, they were only a short distance away from Ephrath when Rachel's labor pains began in earnest.

The midwife reassured her, "Don't worry; you will also have this son."

But as Rachel died giving birth, she named the baby Benoni. However, Jacob gave him the name Benjamin instead.

Rachel was buried on the side of the road to Ephrath, which is now known as Bethlehem.

Jacob set up a memorial stone at her grave, and it remains there to this day as a reminder of where Rachel's body lies.

Israel continued on his journey and camped outside a tower called Edar.

Later, when Israel lived in that land, one of his sons, Reuben, had a child with Bilhah, Jacob's concubine, while their father was still alive. When Jacob found out about it, he learned that the sons of Leah were:

Reuben, who was Jacob's firstborn son; Simeon; Levi; Judah; Issachar; Zebulun; and Dan.

The children born to Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.

Rachel had given birth to two more sons through her servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

Additionally, Leah's maid, Zilpah, had borne two sons to Jacob in Paddan Aram: Gad and Asher.

Jacob eventually visited his father Isaac at Mamre in the city of Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived earlier.

Isaac passed away at an old age after a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him together.