Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 God said to Jacob, "Go to Bethel at once, and live there. Build an altar there to me, the God who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau."
1
God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
2 So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that you have; purify yourselves and put on clean clothes.
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Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments.
3 We are going to leave here and go to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who helped me in the time of my trouble and who has been with me everywhere I have gone."
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Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and also the earrings that they were wearing. He buried them beneath the oak tree near Shechem.
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They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
5 When Jacob and his sons started to leave, great fear fell on the people of the nearby towns, and they did not pursue them.
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They journeyed: and a terror of God was on the cities that were round about them, and they didn't pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 Jacob came with all his people to Luz, which is now known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan.
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So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Bethel), he and all the people who were with him.
7 He built an altar there and named the place for the God of Bethel, because God had revealed himself to him there when he was running away from his brother.
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He built an altar there, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 Rebecca's nurse Deborah died and was buried beneath the oak south of Bethel. So it was named "Oak of Weeping."
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Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.
9 When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
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God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel." So God named him Israel.
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God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel.
11 And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings.
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God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your loins.
12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you."
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The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land."
13 Then God left him.
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God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.
14 There, where God had spoken to him, Jacob set up a memorial stone and consecrated it by pouring wine and olive oil on it.
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Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink-offering on it, and poured oil on it.
15 He named the place Bethel.
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Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel."
16 Jacob and his family left Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, the time came for Rachel to have her baby, and she was having difficult labor.
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They journeyed from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
17 When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, Rachel; it's another boy."
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It happened that, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for now you will have another son."
18 But she was dying, and as she breathed her last, she named her son Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
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It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni, but his father named him Benjamin.
19 When Rachel died, she was buried beside the road to Ephrath, now known as Bethlehem.
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Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem).
20 Jacob set up a memorial stone there, and it still marks Rachel's grave to this day.
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Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.
21 Jacob moved on and set up his camp on the other side of the tower of Eder.
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Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 While Jacob was living in that land, Reuben had sexual intercourse with Bilhah, one of his father's concubines; Jacob heard about it and was furious. Jacob had twelve sons.
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It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
23 The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob's oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
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The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
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The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel's slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
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The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah's slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These sons were born in Mesopotamia.
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The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived.
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Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28 Isaac lived to be a hundred and eighty years old
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The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.
29 and died at a ripe old age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
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Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.