God Blesses and Renames Jacob
1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. fMake an altar there to the God gwho happeared to you iwhen you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, j“Put away kthe foreign gods that are among you and lpurify yourselves and mchange your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God nwho answers me in the day of my distress and has been owith me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under pthe terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
5 And as they journeyed, a qterror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar and called the place rEl-bethel,1 because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 And sDeborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.2
9 God appeared3 to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and tblessed him. 10 And God said to him, u“Your name is Jacob; vno longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God wAlmighty:4 xbe fruitful and multiply. yA nation and a zcompany of nations shall come from you, and akings shall come from your own body.5 12 bThe land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land cto your offspring after you.” 13 Then dGod went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob eset up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a fdrink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15 gSo Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance6 from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hhard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have ianother son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;7 but his father called him Benjamin.8 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of jRachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 While Israel lived in that land, kReuben went and llay with Bilhah mhis father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.
nNow the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob owho were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, pold and full of days. And qhis sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 nAnd they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, o“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 p“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
38 qJohn said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,1 and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 rFor the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, swhoever gives you a cup of water to drink because2 you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
Temptations to Sin
42 t“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,3 uit would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 vAnd if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,4 to the unquenchable fire.5 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to wenter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 x‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 yFor everyone will be salted with fire.6 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? zHave salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
