1Derpå sagde Gud til Jakob: „Nu skal du tage videre til Betel og slå lejr der. Du skal bygge et alter og tilbede mig der, for jeg er den Gud, som viste sig for dig, dengang du var på flugt fra din bror, Esau.”2Med det samme gav Jakob besked til sin familie og hele sin husstand: „Tilintetgør alle jeres afgudsfigurer, vask jer grundigt og skift tøj.3Vi tager til Betel, og der vil jeg rejse et alter for den Gud, som hørte min bøn, da jeg var i vanskeligheder—den Gud, som også var med mig på min lange rejse.”4Så gav de Jakob alle deres afguder og øreringe, og han begravede det hele under det store egetræ udenfor byen Sikem.5Derefter brød de op og begav sig på vej. Gud gjorde indbyggerne i alle de omkringliggende byer rædselsslagne, så de ikke forfulgte dem.6Jakob og hans folk ankom nu til Luz, det senere Betel, i Kana’an.7Der byggede Jakob et alter og kaldte det El-Betel,[1] for det var der, Gud havde vist sig for ham, dengang han flygtede fra sin bror.8Kort tid efter døde Rebekkas gamle barnepige, Debora, og hun blev begravet under egetræet i dalen neden for Betel. Siden den tid kaldte man træet „Grædeegen”.9Gud havde nu vist sig for Jakob to gange, den anden gang, da han var på vej hjem fra Paddan-Aram. Dengang havde Gud velsignet ham10og sagt: „Dit navn er godt nok Jakob. Men det skal du ikke længere kaldes. Du skal hedde Israel!” Det var altså dengang, Jakob fik navnet Israel.[2] (1.Mos 32,28)11Her i Betel viste Gud sig igen for Jakob og gentog sit tidligere løfte:[3] „Jeg er Gud den almægtige! Du skal få mange efterkommere og blive stamfar til et stort folk, ja mange folkeslag. Nogle af dine efterkommere vil blive konger. (1.Mos 28,13)12Det løfte om land, som jeg gav til Abraham og Isak, giver jeg også til dig og dine efterkommere.”13Så steg Gud op fra det sted, hvor han havde talt til Jakob.14Jakob havde rejst en mindesten på dette sted, hvor Gud nu igen havde vist sig for ham, og som et drikoffer til Gud hældte han vin ud over mindestenen og salvede den med olivenolie.15Grunden til, at Jakob kaldte stedet Betel,[4] var, at Gud havde mødt ham der og talt til ham.[5]
Jakob mister Rakel
16Jakob og hans familie forlod nu Betel og rejste videre mod Efrat, det senere Betlehem. På vejen dertil fik Rakel stærke fødselsveer.17Under den meget vanskelige fødsel sagde jordemoderen: „Du skal ikke være bange, du har fået endnu en søn.”18Rakel overlevede dog ikke fødslen, men lige inden hun døde, gav hun ham navnet Benoni.[6] Det navn ændrede Jakob til Benjamin.[7]19Da Rakel var død, blev hun begravet ved vejen til Betlehem, som dengang hed Efrat.20Jakob rejste en mindesten på graven, og den står der den dag i dag.21Så fortsatte Jakob sin rejse og slog lejr på den anden side af Migdal-Eder.22Det var, mens de opholdt sig der, at Ruben gik i seng med sin fars slavehustru, Bilha, og Jakob fik det at vide. Her følger navnene på Jakobs 12 sønner.23Hans sønner med Lea var: Ruben (den førstefødte), Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issakar og Zebulon.24Hans sønner med Rakel var: Josef og Benjamin.25Hans sønner med Bilha, Rakels tjenestepige, var: Dan og Naftali.26Hans sønner med Zilpa, Leas tjenestepige, var: Gad og Asher. Disse sønner fik han under sin landflygtighed i Paddan-Aram.27Omsider nåede Jakob frem til sin far, Isak, i Mamre, tæt ved Kirjat-Arba, som nu hedder Hebron, hvor også Abraham havde boet.28-29Isak døde kort tid efter i en alder af 180 år, meget gammel og mæt af dage. Hans sønner, Esau og Jakob, begravede ham.
1God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” (1.Mos 27,43; 1.Mos 28,19)2So 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 garments. (1.Mos 18,19; 1.Mos 31,19; 2.Mos 19,10; Josva 24,15; Josva 24,23; 1.Sam 7,3)3Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” (1.Mos 28,20; 1.Mos 31,3; 1.Mos 32,7; 1.Mos 32,24)4So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem. (Josva 24,26; Dom 9,6)5And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.6And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, (1.Mos 28,19)7and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,[1] because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. (1.Mos 35,1)8And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.[2] (1.Mos 24,59)9God appeared[3] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.10And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. (1.Mos 17,5; 1.Mos 17,15; 1.Mos 32,28)11And God said to him, “I am God Almighty:[4] be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.[5] (1.Mos 17,1; 1.Mos 17,5; 1.Mos 17,16; 1.Mos 26,4; 1.Mos 28,3; 1.Mos 48,4)12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” (1.Mos 12,7; 1.Mos 13,15; 1.Mos 17,8; 1.Mos 26,3; 1.Mos 28,13)13Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. (1.Mos 17,22)14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. (1.Mos 28,18; 1.Mos 31,45)15So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. (1.Mos 28,19)
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance[6] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor.17And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” (1.Mos 30,24)18And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;[7] but his father called him Benjamin.[8] (Luk 1,59)19So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), (1.Mos 48,7; Ruth 1,2; Ruth 4,11; Mika 5,2; Matt 2,6; Matt 2,16)20and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. (1.Sam 10,2; 2.Sam 18,18)21Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.22While 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. (1.Mos 49,4; 2.Sam 16,22; 2.Sam 20,3; 1.Krøn 5,1; 1.Kor 5,1)23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. (1.Mos 46,8; 2.Mos 1,2)24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.25The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali.26The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.27And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. (1.Mos 13,18; 1.Mos 23,2; 1.Mos 23,19; Josva 14,15; Josva 15,13)28Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.29And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (1.Mos 15,15; 1.Mos 25,8; 1.Mos 25,9; 1.Mos 49,31)