9. When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him.
10. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel.
11. God said to him, “I am God All-Powerful. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings.
12. I gave Abraham and Isaac land. I will give that same land to you and your descendants.”
13. Then God left him.
14. Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him. And he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God.
15. And Jacob named the place Bethel.
16. Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby.
17. But she was having much trouble with this birth. When Rachel’s nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.”
18. Rachel gave birth to the son, but she died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering. But Jacob called him Benjamin.
19. Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem.
20. And Jacob set up a rock on her grave to honor her. That rock is still there today.
21. Then Israel, also called Jacob, continued his journey. He camped just south of Migdal Eder.
22. While Israel was in that land Reuben had physical relations with Israel’s slave woman Bilhah. And Israel heard about it.Jacob had 12 sons.
23. He had 6 sons by his wife Leah. Reuben was his first son. Then Leah had Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24. He had 2 sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25. He had 2 sons by Rachel’s slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
26. And he had 2 sons by Leah’s slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher.These are Jacob’s sons who were born in Northwest Mesopotamia.
27. Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron. This is where Abraham and Isaac had lived.
28. Isaac lived 180 years.