Jacob at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. ¹² And he dreamed:^(A) A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.^{(B) 13} The Lord was standing there beside him,^[a] saying, “I am the Lord,^(C) the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth,^(D) and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^{(E) 15} Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land,^(F) for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”^{(G) 17} He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it ¹⁹ and named the place Bethel,^[b] though previously the city was named Luz.^{(H) 20} Then Jacob made a vow:^(I) “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ and if I return safely to my father’s family,^(J) then the Lord will be my God.^{(K) 22} This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.”^(L)

Return to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there.^(A) Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”^(B)

² So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you.^(C) Purify yourselves and change your clothes.^{(D) 3} We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress.^(E) He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”^(F)

⁴ Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. ⁵ When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.^{(G) 6} So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel^(H)) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel^[a] because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸ Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah,^[b](I) died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.^[c]

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.”^(J) So he named him Israel. ¹¹ God also said to him, “I am God Almighty.^(K) Be fruitful and multiply.^(L) A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you,^(M) and kings will descend from you.^{[d](N) 12} I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac.^(O) And I will give the land to your future descendants.” ¹³ Then God withdrew^[e](P) from him at the place where he had spoken to him.

¹⁴ Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.^(Q)