Thematic Bible




Genesis 35:1 (show verse)

God said to Jacob: Go to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.

Genesis 35:2 (show verse)

Jacob said to his family and those who were with him: Get rid of the foreign gods that you have. Wash yourselves until you are ritually clean. Change your clothes.

Genesis 35:3 (show verse)

After that let us go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I have gone.

Genesis 35:4 (show verse)

So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.

Genesis 35:5 (show verse)

Jacob and his family traveled through Canaan. God terrified the people in the towns so much that no one dared bother them.

Genesis 35:6 (show verse)

Finally, they reached Bethel, also known as Luz.

Genesis 35:7 (show verse)

Jacob built an altar there and called it God of Bethel. That was the place where God appeared to him when he was running from Esau.

Genesis 35:8 (show verse)

Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).

Genesis 35:9 (show verse)

God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram. He blessed him.

Genesis 35:10 (show verse)

God said to him: Your name is Jacob. You shall no longer be called Jacob. Israel shall be your name. Thus He called him Israel.

Genesis 35:11 (show verse)

God also said: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and an assembly of nations will come from you. Kings shall come forth from you.

Genesis 35:12 (show verse)

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. I will give the land to your descendants after you.

Genesis 35:13 (show verse)

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

Genesis 35:14 (show verse)

So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it.

Genesis 35:15 (show verse)

Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel (House of God).

Genesis 35:16 (show verse)

After that they moved from Bethel. When there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel went into labor. She had severe labor pains.

Genesis 35:17 (show verse)

When one of her pains hit, the midwife said: Do not be afraid. You have another son!

Genesis 35:18 (show verse)

Rachel was dying! With her last breath she named her son Ben-oni (Son of My Sorrow), but his father named him Benjamin (Son of My Right Hand).

Genesis 35:19 (show verse)

Rachel died and was buried on the way to Bethlehem (Ephrath).

Genesis 35:20 (show verse)

Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel's grave today.

Genesis 35:21 (show verse)

Israel moved on again. He pitched his tent by the tower of Eder.

Genesis 35:22 (show verse)

While Israel lived in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father's concubine Bilhah. Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons.

Genesis 35:23 (show verse)

The sons of Leah were Jacob's firstborn Reuben, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

Genesis 35:24 (show verse)

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

Genesis 35:25 (show verse)

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

Genesis 35:26 (show verse)

The sons of Leah's slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These were Jacob's sons, who were born in Paddan-aram.

Genesis 35:27 (show verse)

Jacob came home to his father Isaac, to Mamre's city, Kiriath-arba (Hebron). Abraham and Isaac had lived there for a while.

Genesis 35:28 (show verse)

Isaac was one hundred and eighty years old.

Genesis 35:29 (show verse)

Isaac took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death at a very old age. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.