New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
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And God said to Jacob, Go up now to Beth-el and make your living-place there: and put up an altar there to the God who came to you when you were in flight from your brother Esau.
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes;
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Then Jacob said to all his people, Put away the strange gods which are among you, and make yourselves clean, and put on a change of clothing:
3 then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."
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And let us go up to Beth-el: and there I will make an altar to God, who gave me an answer in the day of my trouble, and was with me wherever I went.
4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.
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Then they gave to Jacob all the strange gods which they had, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob put them away under the holy tree at Shechem.
5 As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them.
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So they went on their journey: and the fear of God was on the towns round about, so that they made no attack on the sons of Jacob.
6 Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,
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And Jacob came to Luz in the land of Canaan (which is the same as Beth-el), he and all his people.
7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
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And there he made an altar, naming the place El-beth-el: because it was there he had the vision of God when he was in flight from his brother.
8 And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.
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And Deborah, the servant who had taken care of Rebekah from her birth, came to her end, and was put to rest near Beth-el, under the holy tree: and they gave it the name of Allon-bacuth.
9 God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him.
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Now when Jacob was on his way from Paddan-aram, God came to him again and, blessing him, said,
10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So he was called Israel.
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Jacob is your name, but it will be so no longer; from now your name will be Israel; so he was named Israel.
11 God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.
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And God said to him, I am God, the Ruler of all: be fertile, and have increase; a nation, truly a group of nations, will come from you, and kings will be your offspring;
12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."
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And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you; and to your seed after you I will give the land.
13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.
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Then God went up from him in the place where he had been talking with him.
14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
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And Jacob put up a pillar in the place where he had been talking with God, and put a drink offering on it, and oil.
15 So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
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And he gave to the place where God had been talking with him, the name of Beth-el.
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor.
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So they went on from Beth-el; and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, the pains of birth came on Rachel and she had a hard time.
17 When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son."
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And when her pain was very great, the woman who was helping her said, Have no fear; for now you will have another son.
18 As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
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And in the hour when her life went from her (for death came to her), she gave the child the name Ben-oni: but his father gave him the name of Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),
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So Rachel came to her end and was put to rest on the road to Ephrath (which is Beth-lehem).
20 and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.
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And Jacob put up a pillar on her resting-place; which is named, The Pillar of the resting-place of Rachel, to this day.
21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
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And Israel went journeying on and put up his tents on the other side of the tower of the flock.
22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
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Now while they were living in that country, Reuben had connection with Bilhah, his father's servant-woman: and Israel had news of it.
23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
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Now Jacob had twelve sons: the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's first son, and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun;
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
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The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;
25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali.
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The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali;
26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
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The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher; these are the sons whom Jacob had in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens.
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And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had been living.
28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.
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And Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old.
29 And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
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Then Isaac came to his end and was put to rest with his father's people, an old man after a long life: and Jacob and Esau, his sons, put him in his last resting-place.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.